History of The 189 Club, Inc

The 189 Club gets its name from the badge number of slain HPD Solo Motorcycle Officer Jim Irby and was formed as a charity organization in his honor to “raise a bunch of money to help the kids”.  Recently, the organization has managed to raise over $40,000, earmarked to make purchases in auctions at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for scholarship money for Houston Area teens. The young entrants walk away with money to help them go off to college and build new projects.

New club president, Bob Humphrey said excitement is increasing. “Our fundraising events will enable us to donate more for the kids this year. We used part of the money to buy a calf in the Calf Scramble in the name of Jim Irby. We hope to get a lot more donations from people coming in who want to throw in some money for the club.” Indeed, Bob Humphrey can’t help but emphasize the club's primary goal – to put scholarship money into the pockets of Houston area teenagers who have raised livestock to sell at the livestock show.

This was an ever-present goal of Officer Jim “Jimmy” Irby, who was wantonly murdered on June 27, 1990, by career criminal Carl Buntion, presently one of the oldest residents of Texas’ Death Row. Irby was deeply involved in the Swine Auction and the Calf Scramble. In 1992, the non-profit The 189 Club Inc was established to perpetuate his memory and goal to help the kids. Initially, the club was limited to 189 members, again to memorialize the Irby badge number, but Bob Humphrey said he wants to change the bylaws to increase the involvement.

In recent years the club keeps surpassing its goals because of people like you getting involved. This past year, the shrimp boil and auction/raffle alone netted $25,000 and we can't wait to see what this year brings.

To sum it up in case you haven’t yet gotten the message, The 189 Club – is “to help the kids.”