Becca's Burger, the Golden Burger Challenge feature at Lunch Matters, ready to be served to hungry customers (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Golden Burger Challenge

Burger Challenge in support of NOCLS underway

Oct 6, 2025 | 2:16 PM

The fifth annual Golden Burger Challenge is underway at participating restaurants across Vernon.

The challenge runs through October and sees the participants create unique, specialty burgers with five dollars from each sale going to support the North Okanagan Community Life Society and its programs that support people with disabilities to live independently.

“We support families, we even support families as far away as Victoria, and up to the Kamloops area, and all the way over across to the Kootenays,” Celenka Krawczyk, events coordinator and fundraiser for NOCLS, told Vernon Matters.

“What we do is we help families navigate the government [services] so that their loved ones can live independently and not necessarily have to go into a group home function.”

This year’s Golden Burger Challenge features burgers from 12 restaurants, the participants can be seen at the NOCLS website, and Krawczyk said they were really proud that many of the participants were “mom and pop restaurants that are locally owned and locally sourced.”

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The Lunch Matters chefs preparing Becca’s Burgers, their feature for the Golden Burger Challenge (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Becca’s Burger, the Golden Burger Challenge feature at Lunch Matters, ready to be served to hungry customers (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

Becca’s Burger, the feature at Lunch Matters for the Golden Burger Challenge (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

The challenge raised almost $30,000 for the programs last year, the highest total for the challenge so far, and Krawczyk said they hope to see this year’s total reach beyond that mark and set a new record.

The Golden Burger Challenge was originally started as a way to support local restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since gone from meeting that purpose to also supporting people with disabilities.

People who purchase one of the featured burgers will be able to go online and vote for their favourites. The 2025 edition of the challenge will also have a guest judge, B.C. Bob, social media personality and host of Now You Know B.C.,sampling the burgers and voting for his favourite.