By KATIE MCDOWELL/Lifestyles Editor

The Alabama Wildlife Center will hold the eighth annual Wild About Chocolate Valentine Gala Feb. 11 in Birmingham.

The gala typically features a dessert bar, but this year it will also include appetizers from restaurants, bakers and caterers in the Birmingham area.

Executive Director Carol Argo said the gala is one of the organization’s main sources of funding.

“The gala is the non-profit organization’s primary fundraiser and it typically raises about $30,000,” she said.

In addition to the sweet and savory treats, which is donated by restaurants, bakeries and caterers from the Birmingham area, the gala will include a silent auction and a live auction with Ken Jackson, a Shelby County resident and philanthropist.

“We hope to feature a new, brief video that we will use in our welcome center,” Argo said.

Funds raised from the gala will be used to fund the Alabama Wildlife Center’s mission to rescue and rehabilitate birds across the state. The AWC is run almost entirely by volunteers, who rehabilitate the birds and return them to the wild.

“It takes a lot of money to feed and care for birds, especially if they are going got be here for a while as the juveniles are,” Argo said.

The AWC mission also includes wildlife education.

Argo said the gala typically draws 300 people, but she hopes to increase attendance to at least 400 this year.

Admission is $75 in advance and $100 at the door. The even will be held Feb. 11 from 6-9 p.m. at The Harbert Center, located at 2019 4th Avenue North in Birmingham. Cocktail attire is required.