By Nathan Howell / Staff Writer

The Alabama Wildlife Center, a non-profit located at Oak Mountain State Park, will host the eighth annual Chirps and Chips fundraiser on Aug. 10 the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to help benefit the group and its efforts.

The fundraiser is a casino-style event hosted yearly by the group’s junior board, otherwise known as Raptor Force. The goal of the fundraiser is to offset some of the cost of the group’s projects.

The Alabama Wildlife Center helps take care of around 10,000 avian species each year, included injured and orphaned baby birds, according to Executive Director Doug Adair. The group operates from its headquarters located in Oak Mountain State Park.

“The event is Aug. 10 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens it is a really fun event,” Adair explained. “We will have a great food and drink and fellowship and live music. We will have a silent auction with a lot of wonderful items available. We will also have casino style gaming. It’s always a lot of fun for the event.”

Some of the games available will include blackjack, craps, roulette and slot machines. There will also be live music and food provided by local vendors.

Much of the money will go towards the more than 500 educational programs they put on each year. It will also be used to help maintain existing enclosures for the different bids living at the center, providing food for rehabilitation efforts and other necessary costs.

“We are a non-profit organization. We have a wonderful relationship with Oak Mountain State Park and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources,” Adair explained. “However, because we are non-profit, in order to carry out our mission we must raise all of the money that we spend to fulfill our mission and that is why this event is so important”

The event will be held Aug. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Admission for the event is $50 and tickets can be purchased and can be ordered by emailing wildlife@awrc.org or by calling the Alabama Wildlife Center at 663-7930.