City of Eagan, Minnesota - Nomination for Local Government Innovation Awards
Submitted by Lisa Horn, Executive Director, Eagan Resource Center food shelf
An innovative sesquicentennial celebration with community in mind. When Eagan set out to
celebrate 150 years since its founding, the Eagan 150th Anniversary Executive Board and city officials
embarked on a remarkable goal of rallying the entire community to serve those in need by raising
150,000 pounds of food for those who are hungry. All food, and any monetary donations, was to be
donated to two local food shelves: Eagan Resource Center and 360 Communities, both serving Eagan.
A gesture of hope in a time when many despaired. At a Birthday Party and Sesquicentennial
Kickoff in early January 2010, Mayor Mike Maguire announced the 150,000 pound goal and encouraged
all of Eagan – businesses, community members, schools, faith communities, service organizations, city
departments and nonprofit organizations – to step forward to help eliminate hunger, a growing problem
in what many would consider an affluent suburb of St. Paul.
The time was right. In 2010, there was a 16% jump in visits to food shelves in the 9‐country
metro area in 2010. Dakota County was one of two counties, and the only metro county, in Minnesota
that outpaced other metro counties with a 22% increases in access to food shelves.
The community responded. Using innovative traditional and social media strategies, including
www.eagan150.com, video, blogging and Facebook®, the Executive Board had rallied the community
of Eagan to raise over 150,000 pounds of food by March. The Eagan 150th Anniversary Executive
Board and Eagan city officials re-set the goal for 300,000 pounds of food. The first 150,000 pounds was
to honor the city’s first 150 years and the second 150,000 was to celebrate the 150 years to come.
There were many milestones to remember. There was the Eagan Fun Fest and 4th of July Parade,
sprouting a 18 foot Cub Foods grocery cart and dozens of community volunteers, including the local
food shelf, to collect food and raise awareness of hunger. Then Eagan went back in time with an oldfashioned base ball game and community picnic in early August with a team of local celebrities facing
off against the Minnesota Quicksteps (a vintage base ball club) and against hunger with all proceeds
benefiting the local food shelves. Also in August, the Eagan Police Department and Eagan Citizens
Crime Prevention Association organized an unprecedented National Night Out event, with over 180
neighborhood block parties raising 36,648 pounds of food and nearly $8,000 for the hungry. Then the
Glacier Hills Elementary students collected over 4,000 pounds of food and were rewarded with extra
recess with the school principal and local volunteer firefighters. As the sesquicentennial celebration
began to wrap up in October, the city of Eagan and the Executive Board hosted the first ever Taste of
Eagan event. It seemed effortless for the city to organize 27 local restaurants to donate food and time to
the event, which turned out over 400 people and raised $6,000.
The goal was reached and surpassed, twice. All totaled, over 110 groups - – businesses,
community members, schools, faith communities, service organizations, city departments and nonprofit
organizations – responded to the rallying cry of city leaders and surpassed the second goal of 300,000
pounds of food by raising almost 400,000 pounds of food for those who are hungry in Dakota County.
Sustaining the 150th year. The 150th goal elevated the issue of hunger to such a degree that the
local Eagan food shelf was able to raise an additional $81,000 in a special appeal to build a new space in
the Eagan Cedarvale Business Center, tripling its space and changing the delivery of service in order to
provide a more dignified, substantial experience for families in need of food support. The
Sesquicentennial Committee, City of Eagan and local food shelves developed an action plan early in
2011 to strategically engage the 2010 partners and the community to sustain the momentum of the
successful campaign: 400,000 pounds of food equals 312,500 meals. That’s the same as each Eagan
resident giving 5 meals each for hungry families. Remarkable!