by Anna Hampton
Daily Lobo
Boston's will no longer serve circular pizzas starting Friday.
Instead, the restaurant and sports bar will serve heart-shaped pizzas as a Valentine's Day fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network.
"We want to be involved with the community, so we thought of something more creative," general manager Henry Buckner said.
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The restaurant and the 42 others in the nation will give $1 from each pizza they sell to the Children's Miracle Network.
The UNM Children's Hospital will get all the money from the fundraiser in New Mexico.
"It's fantastic that people are coming out to support the hospital like that," said Daniel Jaecks, Children's Miracle Network development coordinator at UNM. "The more people, the better."
The network is a national organization that raises money for children who have been hospitalized.
Customers can buy paper hearts for $1 until Valentine's Day. The hearts are hung in the store,
Buckner said.
"Last year, we sold 1,000 hearts," he said "This year, we are already at 1,000 hearts, so we will probably surpass it by more
than 1,000."
Gloria Spina, UNM student and waitress at the restaurant, said she has sold about 15 valentines per shift this year. The paper hearts have been available since Feb. 1.
"It's really easy to donate $1," Spina said. "They come and see all the pretty hearts and feel inspired to help people."
Boston's will host a pizza-eating contest today from 6 to 9 p.m. with Al Unser Sr. and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. There will be a silent auction to raise money for the network.
The contest will be judged by children from the hospital.
Kitchen manager Dennis Tugwell said the special shapes are harder to make than normal
pizzas.
"It's a totally different process," he said. "It makes it rough. But we only do it for a week, so it's
worth it."
The pizza will remain the same price throughout the promotion.
Buckner said he expects to sell 4,000 pizzas during the
promotion.
Will Toledo, a UNM student and regular customer at Boston's, bought a paper heart while eating there with a friend.
"We wanted to write something funny on it, and it's a nice thing to do," he said.
