WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - A Wichita non-profit is bringing a new kitchen concept to Towne West Square to better benefit the other non-profits it serves. 

ICT Food Rescue is opening its Upcycle Kitchen in an old food court space, across the mall from Dicks Sporting Goods. Volunteers will cook meals in the space using donated food to give to organizations in need.

“Rice that we get from Chipotle…we'll turn it into a casserole and then we'll send that out as a full meal instead of just bits and pieces,” Director of Community Engagement Tonya Ross said. 

Since 2016, staff with ICT Food Rescue have been collecting leftover or surplus food to help the hungry and cut down on food waste. Ross said the non-profit has saved over 11 million pounds of food from the landfill since it started. 

“Folks can come in, they can cook,” she said. “They can chop; they can do anything that they need to, you know, to make that meal, kind of get where it needs to go.”

Ross said it was her idea to bring the concept to Towne West. ICT Food Rescue is currently in the space, bringing the Upcycle Kitchen to life. 

“I brought my executive director in and I was like, look at this space, and she was like, ‘I hate it,’” Ross said.”

“She came back there the next day, and she sat right over there on that bench, and she was like, ‘Okay, I see it.’”

However, ICT Food Rescue still needs donations to finish the project. The kitchen needs a new hood, electric appliances and pledges for ongoing donations like salt and pepper or protein

“Even if they had a freezer that maybe wasn't bad, but they just wanted to get a new one, we would gladly take that,” Ross said. 

You can sign up to volunteer or donate to ICT Food Rescue on its website, just click here. Ross said the non-profit hopes to start cooking in the space in June. 

“We would love any donations that we could get, whether that would be financial or, you know, even if that's a pot or a pan that we're going to need here for the kitchen,” she said.