The sounds of folding wrapping paper and stretching tape broke through the background noise of Christmas music Wednesday morning at Columbus Air Force Base’s event center.

About 45 airmen and civilian volunteers hustled to wrap boxes filled with clothes for underprivileged children selected for this year’s Happy Irby Shop and Wrap, Master Sgt. Jeffrey Gilmore told The Dispatch.

“Some families unfortunately are just not in a financial situation, to my understanding, to be able to have a true Christmas,” Gilmore said. “So this is a start for them to at least have something.”

The event, organized annually by the Happy Christmas Fund nonprofit, benefits children in the Columbus area by gifting them new clothes during the holiday season.

The event began in 1958, when George “Happy” Irby started saving his tips from his job as a waiter at the Officer’s Club of CAFB to purchase clothing for underprivileged children in the area, according to CAFB’s website.

The shop and wrap event has grown over the years both in its support from volunteers and in the amount of children it’s able to impact, George Hampton Irby, son of Happy, told The Dispatch.

“It’s a lot of work involved, and it could be easy (to be discouraged), but (working) with the friends and people that knew my dad, it’s encouraged me,” Irby said. “That builds me up, and I get re-energized. … And that encourages me to keep it up, because somebody has enjoyed helping somebody else.”

This week, for the event’s 67th year, volunteers from both the city and CAFB helped to shop and wrap Christmas gifts for 350 children selected from seven schools in the area, including New Hope, West Lowndes and Stokes-Beard elementary schools, among others, Rosalind Irby, secretary for the nonprofit, told The Dispatch.

“It’s very important because we do have a lot of underprivileged children here (in Columbus), and I wish we could do more,” Rosalind said. “So we only cover 300 but there’s probably 3,000 that (are in) need. So it’s extremely important that a child wakes up or is able to see something under the tree that’s gifted to them.”

Tides of good cheer

Earlier this year, teachers and staff from each school nominated children to benefit from the event, Rosalind said.

On Tuesday night, about 20 volunteers gathered at the Walmart on Highway 45 and shopped for clothes that would later be wrapped in gift boxes for each child, Rosalind said. Each box includes a pair of socks, underwear, a dress or pants and a shirt.

Rosalind said they typically ask volunteers to keep each outfit between $20 and $40 to ensure each child receives one, and so the nonprofit stays within its budget of about $15,000 for the event.

Jules Heintz, a history teacher at Mississippi School for Science and Mathematics who helped shop Tuesday, said she has volunteered for the last three years of the event. She said she appreciates the opportunity to help school children in need during the holiday season.

“As a teacher, I definitely see students that are in need and having the chance to put together these nice little bags (of clothing) … for these children,” Heintz said. “(It means) they’re gonna have something on Christmas morning. They’re going to have brand new clothes, which some of them may not have ever had.”

The next morning the clothes were taken to CAFB, where airmen and civilian volunteers wrapped each box in red and green wrapping paper. The presents were delivered later Wednesday afternoon, so the children could have their gifts before the schools let out for winter break, Rosalind said.

Master Sgt. John Lorenz Lim, who participated in both the shopping and wrapping this year, said for him, it was a “joyful” time to spread some cheer for these children. His hope was to give children receiving the new outfits the same excitement he felt as a child receiving a gift on Christmas.

“It made me feel so well accomplished throughout the day,” Lim said. “… It feels like basically the joy of the holiday is literally in these boxes.”

Rosalind said the event this year cost about $14,000 and was primarily covered by leftover funds the nonprofit had from previous donations and fundraising efforts. Going into 2026, Rosalind said, the board will discuss plans for fundraising events to help to cover the event going forward.

George Hampton Irby said his hope is that through the event, volunteers and recipients alike will be inspired to help others when given the chance.

“It’s all about giving,” he said. “And … I hope that everyone understands that (our goal is) to emulate Jesus and be servants. And that’s where your joy comes from when you help somebody else. … I hope that all the recipients are thankful and they see how people give and when they grow up they’ll want to do the same thing.”

Those wishing to donate for future Happy Irby Shop and Wrap events can either send checks made out to the Happy Christmas Fund nonprofit to P.O. Box 9292, Columbus, MS, 39705 or call George Hampton Irby at (662) 364-1898 for additional details.