- Children's drawings brought to life with Lego in hospital's
pediatric wing
- First wish selected from more than 8,800 wishes made across
Canada and the U.S.
- Wishing it forward is easy: choose your category, write your
wish, and toss your digital coin online at
www.BMO200.com
TORONTO and SYDNEY, NS, March 28,
2017 /PRNewswire/ - Thousands of wishes have been cast into
the #BMO200 fountain since its launch in January, and BMO Financial
Group announced today that the opening wish of the year has been
fulfilled at Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The interactive Lego city
for children showcases the bank's vision to roll out meaningful
community initiatives that will continue over the course of this
year.
BMO employees from Sydney and
Halifax came together over four
days in March to help grant Anne
Luker's wish for her son, who is a patient at the hospital.
The wish called for a "Lego city in the Cape Breton Regional
Hospital's pediatric wing for all the kids to enjoy." In order
to involve the patients, BMO worked with the hospital to use the
children's drawings of their homes as inspiration for the Lego
community, creating a home away from home for the kids.
BMO helped to bring the drawings to life with more than 35,000
Lego pieces, building a bustling town complete with a ferris wheel,
BMO branch, and special touches unique to the area like the iconic
60 foot fiddle located at the Port of Sydney. The Lego community play area was
unveiled at the hospital, surrounded by the kids, Anne and her
three children.
"I can't think of a more deserving first wish to kick off our
milestone year and continue with our legacy of giving back," said
Connie Stefankiewicz, Chief
Marketing Officer, BMO Financial Group. "Thousands of wishes have
been made at our BMO200 fountain and we wanted to ensure that the
first one reflected the spirit of what we're aiming to accomplish,
by wishing it forward and helping our communities and individuals
in a meaningful way."
"Our patients and their families are incredibly thankful to BMO
for building this Lego community play area in our atrium for so
many to enjoy – it's bringing a piece of home to them while they
are at the hospital," said Mickey
Daye, Manager, Maternal Child Services, Cape Breton Regional
Hospital. "BMO has really made a difference here in Sydney and the impact will ripple through our
community."
Since launching in January, the #BMO200 fountain has captured
the imagination of people across North
America with more than 8,800 wishes cast as of March 27, 2017. The top three wish categories so
far are Family, Happiness and Community.
BMO continues to encourage North Americans to make wishes for an
opportunity to be selected and have their wish realized.
Individuals and organizations can wish it forward by visiting
www.BMO200.com or visiting one of the interactive BMO200 fountains
which will be in Chicago, Illinois
next month and Montréal, Québec during the fall.
To watch the unveiling of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Lego
City, please visit https://youtu.be/f8Gc_EgA9cM and join the
conversation on social using #BMO200.
For more stories from BMO and the impact it's making in
communities, visit history.bmo.com.
About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817, and
currently marking its 200th year of operations, BMO Financial Group
is a highly diversified financial services provider based in
North America. With total assets
of $692 billion as of January 31, 2017, and more than 45,000 employees,
BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking,
wealth management and investment banking products and services to
more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three
operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth
Management and BMO Capital Markets.
Media Contacts:
Matthew
Duffin, matthew.duffin@bmo.com, (416) 867-3996
Michelle Agnelo,
michelle.agnelo@bmo.com, (416) 867-3996
Web: www.bmo.com
Twitter: @BMOmedia
SOURCE BMO Financial Group