Following additional review and the development of a revised event plan, the Huntsville Fire Department is pleased to announce that the Project Porchlight door-to-door food drive will return for its 38th year on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, in support of the Salvation Army.
“After making the decision earlier this year to shift to an alternative collection format, primarily due to limited resources, additional planning and community support have made it possible to once again proceed with the traditional door-to-door collection that residents have come to know and support over the past 38 years,” says Huntsville Fire Chief Gary Monahan. “We appreciate the community’s feedback and their request to try and find options to ensure the continuation of neighbourhood collection. The dedication of our volunteers, firefighters, and community partners will allow us to keep the Project Porchlight tradition going and help families in need throughout our community.”
Door-to-door collection will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, with Huntsville Fire Department, OPP and EMS vehicles and Town staff making their way through Huntsville to collect donations. Residents who wish to participate are asked to turn their porchlight on and place their non-perishable donations at the end of their driveway or on their porch, where first responders and volunteers will collect them.
To accommodate the door-to-door collection, the previously announced drop-off events at Huntsville and Port Sydney fire stations will no longer be taking place. However, the fire department has partnered with local grocery stores to provide an extended period for food drop-off bins and Salvation Army monetary donation kettles at the grocery stores listed below, which are now set up. Firefighters will also be on hand on certain days to accept donations in person, and thank the community for their generous support:
- FreshCo (19 Hanes Road): Friday, November 27 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 6 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Metro (70 King William Street): Saturday, December 5 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Independent Grocer (131 Howland Drive): Friday, December 4 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Food items can also be dropped off beginning today at the Huntsville and Port Sydney fire stations or the Salvation Army’s Huntsville location between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. We ask that residents take a moment to double-check that food items have not passed their date of expiry.
Volunteers will make every effort to get to all streets and neighbourhoods in Huntsville over the course of the night. Should your donation not be picked up, please consider dropping them off at one of the locations listed above. Alternatively, after December 2, residents can call the fire department at 705-789-5201, and they will be happy to coordinate a time to pick up your items.
The Huntsville Fire Department Project Porchlight event page can be found at www.huntsville.ca.
