Dakota County’s plan to end hunger involves locking mayors in escape rooms

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Mayors from Dakota County recently got locked in escape rooms as part of a fundraiser to support local food banks. They spent several hours trying to solve puzzles and escape, all to raise money for those in need.

On March 28th, Neighbors Inc., a Dakota County food shelf, held a fundraising event called ‘Free Mayors, Feed Neighbours’ at Nowhere Entertainment Amusement Park in Invergrove Heights. The event was designed to help provide meals for people in need in the local community.

So, I was talking to Cody Semo from Neighbors Inc., and they’re running this huge food drive for Minnesota in March. Their goal is to raise $200,000, which sounds like a lot, but apparently, if they hit that number, they can provide almost 480,000 meals! That’s enough to help practically everyone in Dakota County, which is awesome. It’s a really ambitious goal, but it’s for a great cause.

Local officials warn of “record amount” of food insecurity

Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins highlighted the financial difficulties many families are facing, even in a relatively prosperous county like theirs. He explained that roughly one in five families in Dakota County are currently struggling to make ends meet.

To help fight hunger in the community, the mayors of West St. Paul, South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, and Mendota Heights participated in a unique event: they volunteered to be locked inside escape rooms. People could watch them try to escape live on a screen in the lobby.

Neighbours Inc announced that the event raised several thousand dollars, helping the food shelf get closer to its fundraising goal.

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2026-03-29 17:48