Although Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday this year, a local charity wants to make the special occasion all about “sundaes.”

For the fourth straight year, Meredith’s Miracles will be selling Valentine’s Day candy sundaes, with all proceeds going to benefit the local charity.

The sundaes are filled with candy of the buyer’s choice — Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hershey’s Kisses, Tootsie Rolls, bubble gum, peppermint or cinnamon candy. Sugar-free candy is also available on request.

“(My husband,) Curtis is the one who came up with this idea,” said June Simpson, founder-director of Meredith’s Miracles. “At one time, he was at a balloon wholesale business and they made these sundaes, so we thought it would be a great fund-raiser for (the charity) as well.”

Simpson said the charity will probably sell about 800 of the homemade gifts, all of which will be made by hand. Anyone who would like to help make the sundaes is welcome to come by the Valentine’s Day store, which is located three doors down from Sugar Rush bakery on the city square. The sundaes will be built Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“Anybody who wants to come and try their creativity, they’re welcome to join us,” Simpson said. “John Tisdale has once again given us this building to use, and it’s an awesome building. He’s very nice to do that for us again.”

Starting Feb. 2, the sundaes will go on sale at the Valentine’s Day store. The sundaes cost $15 each, and buyers can also purchase a “Happy Valentine’s Day” or “I Love You” balloon for $5 more. There will be a $2 charge for delivery, and the deadline for delivery is the afternoon of Fri., Feb. 13.

“We do not want to deliver any on Saturday if it’s at all possible,” Simpson said.

This year, Meredith’s Miracles will also give buyers the chance to “build a basket” full of gifts for that special someone on Valentine’s Day.

“We’ll have cookies and candies and little novelty things that people can put in their baskets,” Simpson said. “They can come into the store anytime from Feb. 2 through the 14th, and we’ll help them build a basket with the things they want, and then we’ll cellophane it up for them.”

In addition to visiting the store, buyers can also order sundaes by calling Simpson at 222-3625 or 427-9907.

Simpson said the sundae sale is one of the charity’s two biggest fund-raisers. The other major fund-raiser, “Cookies with Characters,” is scheduled for Sat., Feb. 21.

“Those two are our biggest fund-raisers, and it’s probably neck-and-neck about what they raise,” she said. “It’s sometimes hard to have these big fund-raisers back to back, but this is the perfect time to do ‘Cookies’ as well. They’re both very popular events.”

Meredith’s Miracles is a non-profit foundation named in honor of Meredith McGlamory, who passed away from a form of childhood cancer in 2003. Meredith is Simpson’s granddaughter and the daughter of Janna and Russell McGlamory.

The charity assists parents who have to leave the area to get specialty medical care for their children. Meredith’s Miracles helps with non-medical related expenses, such as gas, lodging and food, for families within a 60-mile radius of Andalusia.