Next Saturday, the Durham Armory is the place to be for a the 12th annual auction benefiting the Piedmont Wildlife Center.

“What we’re really trying to do is get people to get outside and get into nature, get some sunlight, and get some fresh air,” said Gail Abrams, executive director of the Piedmont Wildlife Center, describing its mission in a recent discussion with WCHL.

The center is holding its annual Celebrate Wildlife Gala & Auction at the Durham Armory in Downtown Durham, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22.

In addition to connecting people with nature and wildlife, the PWC at 364 Leigh Farm Rd. in Durham educates the public about conservation issues, and how we can all do a better job of protecting wildlife.

“Our primary programs are kids’ camps that we do year-round – weeklong camps, sometimes one or two day camps on holidays,” said Abrams. “We also have adult programs on the weekends.

“We do birthday parties. We go out to schools, and do school programs and assemblies. We have afterschool programs.”

Next Saturday’s benefit event at the Durham Armory will be emcee’d by WCHL’s own Aaron Keck, with music from Rootzie.

“We’ll have live animals that will be there as part of our Wildlife Ambassadors,” said Abrams. “We have a silent auction with about 200 items available; and a live auction with about 10 really wonderful, great things to bid on.

“We’ve got a cash bar with a bunch of homebrewed local beer that will be there, and provided by a couple of our volunteers.”

Items in the live auction include Disney World tickets, an autographed Carolina Hurricanes hockey stick, and four days including three nights on Figure Eight Island, just north of Wrightsville Beach.

There are hundreds of items in the silent auction, which is underway. The first bidder on any of those items is automatically entered into a drawing for a 64-gigabyte iPad mini 3.

Tickets for the four-hour event are $50, and are available here.