Alabama Wildlife Center craft, bake sale to support educational efforts

From baked goods to birds, it will all be at the Alabama Wildlife Center’s annual Holiday Craft and Bake Sale fundraiser.

The event, set for Dec. 3 at Veterans Park, will have a variety of items for sale, including homemade baked goods, nature-themed ornaments and decorations, homemade jam and jellies, frozen casseroles, smoked hams and turkey breasts, original artwork of wildlife and nature, bird feeders and houses, jewelry, handmade quilts and other items.

“It’s just a variety of great gift items. Really, it’s a one-stop shop to take care of your holiday needs while helping a wonderful cause,” said Doug Adair, executive director of the AWC. 

In addition to the items for sale, attendees will be able to take photos with Santa and meet glove-trained education birds from the AWC.

The holiday sale is the main fundraiser for AWC, which cares for almost 2,000 wild birds annually and aims to provide medical care to injured or orphaned birds while also offering education on Alabama’s native wildlife. In addition to continuing that care, Adair said there are other exciting plans at the center’s headquarters at Oak Mountain State Park.

“We are working on upgrading our public spaces, and we are also raising funds for a new education enclosure that will house our newest education ambassador, education raptor, which is the largest owl species in the world — the Eurasian eagle owl — and also we have plans in the future to add bald eagles to our education program,” Adair said.

The craft and bake sale will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Veterans Park on Valleydale Road.