10 restaurants in Leeds and Grenville participating in United Way's Novemburger event

Restaurants band together for local charity Nearly a dozen restaurants in Leeds and Grenville are coming together for ‘Novemburger’ to raise money for the United Way.

Ten restaurants in the Leeds and Grenville region are participating in United Way’s “Novemburger” event this month to support the agency.

Each location will donate $2.00 from every sale of a selected burger on their menu to the United Way Leeds and Grenville (UWLG) until the end of November.

“Not only is it a fundraiser for us, it is a fun fundraiser that people can get involved in,” said Hailie Jack, United Way executive director.

The nonprofit agency helps tackle issues like homelessness, food insecurity and addiction in the community, and according to Jack, upbeat fundraisers like “Novemburger” are a great way to spread awareness about the agency.

“It can be very tiresome and sad to hear about it,” she explained.

“So, when we're able to bring in a food driven, fun fundraiser, that really creates excitement around what we do here.”

One participating location is the new Fat Les’s on King in downtown Brockville. Owner Les Winters says opening their restaurant last week timed perfectly with United Way’s event.

“It's very important for us to be involved,” he said.

“When they came to us, we were the first ones to jump right in and say, 'yes, we're in.'"

“Novemburger” is also a competition between restaurants. Customers can vote on the United Way’s website for who has the best patty.

Given the nature of their menu in the first place, that’s what Karra’s Burgers & Fries is focusing on, on top of donating to a good cause.

“We just figured, hey, burgers are our thing, let's see if they can compete,” said co-owner Carina Brockett.

They’re using the sales from their best-selling 'Luke-innator' burger, stacked with onion rings, pickles and smoked meat.

“We're trying to get our staff to push it as well so that we sell more of them, obviously, to bring up that donation for them.”

“Novemburger” had been tested in Thunder Bay, Ont. over the past few years, and is now launching in nine other locations across the country - including Leeds & Grenville - due to its success.

According to Jack, the goal this year was to get exactly 10 restaurants to sign up. Now looking forward to 2025, she hopes other restaurants in the region are inclined to sign up.

“Considering it's our first year, we thought 10 was a big enough goal,” she said.

“Next year we'd love to see it grow. I think as restaurants see it happening more and more, they’ll want to join in with us.”

The full list of participating locations in the region this year are: