BMO200 First Wish Fulfilled with Creation of Lego City at Cape Breton Regional Hospital

• 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, [email protected], (416) 867-3996
Michelle Agnelo, [email protected], (416) 867-3996

Web: www.bmo.com                 Twitter: @BMOmedia

SOURCE BMO Financial Group