Food Rescue Program
This program utilizes Food Rescue US software to coordinate volunteers (food runners) throughout Wichita, KS, picking up food surplus and then distributing it to nonprofit partners who serve the food insecure. Up to 40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted, of the food wasted throughout the U.S., 42% is fresh fruits and vegetables and 26% is milk and dairy products. In 2021, in the U.S. 91 million tons of food went unsold or were uneaten.
By looking at the numbers accomplished by ICT Food Rescue in 2023 of the accumulated total of food rescued we recorded 205,291 pounds of rescued food. This amount of food has been turned into the equivalent of 171,076 meals given to approximately 5,000 unduplicated adults and children in the City of Wichita. ICTFR can consider the savings of $396,210 to our partnered receiving agencies as impactful.
ICT Food Rescue staff will meet with food donors to complete the onboarding process and compile necessary information to create seamless pickups each week for our volunteers. ICTFR staff will find a current partnering nonprofit organization that has the storage capacity, cooks/volunteers/staff to repurpose and serve the incoming items, and operating hours that meet the needs of the onboarding food donor.
Nonprofits receiving food donations from the Food Rescue Program:
Anchor of Hope
Carpenter Place, Inc.
CityLife Church
Emporia House
Episcopal Social Services, DBA Breakthrough
His Helping Hands
HumanKind
New Life Church & Outreach Center
Open Door
Passageways
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Shocker Support Locker
The Lord’s Diner
The Phoenix
Treehouse
Union Rescue Mission
Wichita Family Crisis Center
Wichita Fellowship Club
ICT Food Rescue partners with over 50 local and national restaurants, caterers, and food producers. This is a collaborative effort to divert unavoidable food surplus from ending up in landfills.