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FRAMINGHAM  UNO Pizzeria & Grill announced it will provide complimentary pizza to more than 1,000 Boston area children during the months of April and May.

This is an effort to help them stay connected with friends, despite school closings and social distancing, through virtual birthday parties.

As part of its community outreach effort, UNO’s is taking requests from families through Instagram and Facebook starting Friday April 3 through April 17 for kids who have missed an in-person birthday celebration with their friends over the last month – or who are canceling one in April or May – due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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UNO’s will randomly select 200 Boston area kids as well as up to 5 of their closest friends to provide Make-Your-Own Pizza Kits to throughout April and May.

Each of them can connect by video conference with their friends, create and bake their own pizzas, light a candle and sing to celebrate their birthday together, while staying safely apart.

This program is in conjunction with the launch of the UNO $5 Kids Make-Your-Own Pizza Kit. Available now as part of the UNO takeout menu, this perfect home-from-school activity allows children to be their own personal chef with fresh ingredients to create ready-to-bake pizzas – with parental supervision – right in their home kitchens. The kit comes with pizza crust, sauce, cheese, pepperoni, cooking instructions, crayons and a pizza coloring sheet. And, creativity is encouraged as parents and children look for activities to do together ranging from virtual birthday parties to fun cooking lessons at home.

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“It’s critical everyone does their part to maintain social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus,” said Jim Ilaria, CEO of UNO Pizzeria & Grill. “At the same time, we have an opportunity to find new ways to stay connected with our friends and family members. As we like to say at UNO’s – no one gathers around a hot dog – but you sure can share a pizza with friends and family, especially when it matters most. The UNO Virtual Birthday Party event reminds us all – particularly children who can’t see friends for a birthday – that we’re only a phone call or video conference away from catching up with someone close to us and sharing a few laughs over a personal pizza.”

The UNO Virtual Birthday Party giveaway is available only for the months of April and May.

Children eligible must live near a Boston area UNO restaurant, must be 12 years of age or younger and have a birthday in the months of either March, April or May.

Parents of eligible children must be willing to pick up the kits at their local UNO’s and can do so safely via touchless curbside take-out.

No additional purchase necessary.

There is an UNO’s on Route 9 in Framingham.

By editor

Susan Petroni is the former editor for SOURCE. She is the founder of the former news site, which as of May 1, 2023, is now a self-publishing community bulletin board. The website no longer has a journalist but a webmaster.