In an effort to supply food to frontline workers and to citizens facing food insecurity, Boston-based UNO Pizzeria & Grill has launched the Pay-It-Forward-Pizza program, allowing customers to partner with their local UNO’s restaurant to feed those in need around them.
Through the program, people can donate any number of $10 Pay-It-Forward Pizzas as part of their order—or in lieu of one—at unos.com/payitforward. Contributions will be tracked by individual stores, matched one-for-one, and then safely delivered to local worthy recipients chosen by the restaurants.
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To introduce the program on May 1, UNO’s corporate office donated and delivered deep-dish pizzas to the medical staff at the Boston Medical Center, which has been called “the heart of the coronavirus storm” within the city of Boston and where seven of 10 patients have COVID-19. Subsequent donations in weeks ahead will be identified and fulfilled across the country, the company said, as UNO’s team members work to feed hospital workers, first responders, and other everyday frontline heroes while supporting local and regional charitable efforts addressing food-insecurity.
Hospitals like Boston Medical Center have been among the beneficiaries of UNO’s Pay-It-Forward-Pizza initiative.
UNO’s franchisees are also digging deeper in their commitment to local communities, the company said. Ted Politte donated 300 pizzas to the Denver VA Medical Center. Paul Rankin has matched donations of 500-plus UNO’s deep-dish pizzas to hospitals and first responders during the last few weeks in Clifton, New Jersey. Amanda Spiker and her team in Sterling Heights, Michigan, sent hundreds of pizzas to Ascension Genesys Hospital to feed the frontlines.
“Through UNO’s Pay-It-Forward-Pizza program, any level of donation is greatly appreciated as we work to support the communities we live in and serve right now,” said Amanda Helming, CMO of UNO Pizzeria & Grill, in a press release. “This program not only helps keep our own restaurant workers busy during these challenging times, it offers our generous guests—many of whom have proactively reached out in recent weeks looking to help—a way to provide much-needed hot meals to those who need it most in our local communities.”
