Ruby Eborde, right, of the Filipino Association of Shediac helped raise money to send back to people affected by the Dec. 3 typhoon in the Philippines. (CBC)

A group of fish plant workers in Shediac helped make Christmas a little brighter for dozens of families in a typhoon-devastated part of the Philippines.

The 130 workers represent the southeastern town's growing Filipino population.

Ruby Eborde said all of the workers chipped in and they came up with about $500 to send to her family in the Compostela Valley.

The $500 in financial assistance from the workers in Shediac provided food for many families in the Philippines.

“They bought three pigs for … [a] Christmas Eve gathering. She shared it to the 87 families in Compostela Valley because she don’t want to give noodles and sardines because all the relief goods were noodles and sardines,” she said.

More than 310,000 people lost their homes when the powerful typhoon hit the southern Philippines on Dec. 3.

Super Typhoon Bopha hit the Philippines with winds of 160 kilometres per hour, killing more than 1,000 people.

Eborde said members of her family lost their homes, but survived the storm.

The money was raised through a 50-50 draw, which was organized by the new Filipino Community Association in Shediac.