NAPLES, Fla. - Haiti has been one of the hardest-hit countries this hurricane season with thousands of people struggling to survive. A Southwest Florida group is ready to help with food and medicine, but only if the Haitian government will let them.

Naples-based Hope for Haiti has been sending humanitarian financial aid to the Caribbean nation for nearly 20 years; but this season's storms only made matters worse.

"The desperation, the misery in the south of Haiti, which is the most remote area of Haiti, is enormous," said Dorothy Pullen, Executive Director of Hope for Haiti.

That's when the organization moved beyond financial support alone, collecting food and medical supplies to send to Haiti. A Naples pilot even donated a plane to fly into the town of Les Cayes, cut off from the rest of country after roads and bridges washed away. But getting the assistance there is easier said than done.

"Their government is not a government that can be counted on. Its very unstable," Pullen said. "We will not take off unless we have permission from the civil aviation."

So right now, supplies sit in boxes at the Hope for Haiti offices. Some of it will head out Thursday by truck and then boat. But the much-needed flight of medicine must await assurances it can land safely, and Haitian customs won't take the supplies for their own.

"The Haitian people, especially the children, rely on humanitarian organizations like Hope for Haiti to help them," Pullen said.

The airlift in the donated plane was supposed to happen on Thursday, but is delayed for now.

To learn more about Hope for Haiti's efforts, log on to www.hopeforhaiti.com.