The ‘Incubator of values’, a solidarity project in the widest sense, was created by volunteer students of the Permanent University of the University of Alicante.

The Incubator of Values was born from the initiative of a group of 50-year-old volunteers ‘with free time, good spirits and a high dose of solidarity’, says José Luis Casal, one of its promoters.

The aim is to dedicate the time that society lacks to share that optimism with those who need it more in these times of crisis and lack of values.

In previous years, several initiatives were started up, such as: individual cooperative learning on new technologies, through the EuCoNet Club, as well as on languages, through the Permanent Seminars of Conversations at the Sede and the project of BookCrossing in several points at the University and the city of Alicante. In addition, the ‘Practices of Solidarity and Monthly Collection of Food’ periodic campaign started in the academic year 2011-2012, and will happen once a month during the academic year.

This campaign started in October 2011 and was extended to June 2012. During that period, more than 4.000 kilograms of non-perishable food (pasta, legumes, rice, milk, sugar, canned food...) were collected for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The destination of all collected products is determined by the Food Bank, who is in charge of collecting the food and also delegates it to other associations, NGOs or churches that collaborate with it.

The task of collecting the food at the Alicante Town City Venue as well as at the University Campus (Aulario III) is carried out by around 8-12 volunteers with the help of the Permanent University. They are in charge of all the steps: collection, classification and packaging. We encourage everyone who wishes to collaborate, but it is strictly necessary to follow the guidelines provided by the volunteer team regarding dates, places, collecting time and kinds of foods accepted.