The chairman of a Windsor, Ont.-based charity that works in Haiti says he's "very concerned" about how Haitians affected by Tuesday's earthquake will survive without the quick delivery of emergency supplies there.

"Any delay with getting food into the country is going to cause immediate hunger because they just don't have a lot of reserve," Steve McDougall of Hearts Together for Haiti (HTFHaiti) told CBC News. "They're literally living from day to day."

Steve McDougall, chairman of the Windsor, Ont.-based Hearts Together for Haiti charity, centre, is seen here on a visit to Haiti. (Hearts Together for Haiti)HTFHaiti runs a school in northeast Port-au-Prince, a part of the capital city approximately 145 kilometres from where the earthquake struck on Tuesday afternoon. Those in the school felt tremors but it was not damaged, McDougall said.

He has not been able to get in touch with the school's director but said he does not fear for the director's safety or that of his family because they live in the northeast.

'Enough already'

McDougall's knowledge of Haiti comes from a number of visits to the poverty-stricken country, most recently in November.

He called the earthquake "a great irony" affecting a people that's had "so much heartache over their history."

"My overwhelming thought is 'enough already,'" he said. "Haiti has gone through so much political upheaval [and] landslides, because of hurricanes, taking the soil off of the mountains.

"The past while, I've been thinking, 'Wow, it's really starting to come together, the country is getting more stable,'" he said. "These people just have it so hard, and of all the places for an earthquake to hit, it's incredible."

Money will most certainly be required as part of a rescue effort, he said. He also urged concerned citizens to "keep their eye on the news" for find out what is needed most.

"I think people would probably be doing Haitian people the best service if they just ... listen to hear what is required," said McDougall. "Certainly the basic necessities are going to be needed: food and water, and shelter, probably tents.

"There's going to be a lot of need."