One Family’s Passion for The Salvation Army Passed Down from Generation to Generation
Helen (Raber) Stasiak always had a special place in her heart for The Salvation Army. “She was utterly devoted, so much so that we called her ‘the patron saint of The Salvation Army,’” said her daughter, Dr. Katherine Hankins of Omaha. In fact, when Helen passed away in 2016, several officers from her local Salvation Army Corps in Oxford, Mississippi, attended her funeral. “Seeing them there in their uniforms was so touching,” Dr. Hankins recalled.
Dr. Hankins grew up hearing stories about how both her mother and father had struggled with poverty and homelessness in their youth. Her mother’s family had been missionaries in Mexico and later returned to the United States to farm in Kansas. “When they lost the farm during the Depression, my mother’s family became homeless for a time,” she recalled.
While he worked toward earning his engineering degree at the University of Mississippi, Dr. Hankins’s father, Raymond, lived in his car and in the basement of a campus building because he couldn’t afford room and board.
“My parents each knew what it was like to survive without a roof over their heads and money for necessities,” Dr. Hankins said.
Helen Raber and Raymond Stasiak met while working in a chemical plant during World War II. Later, when Raymond shipped out to serve overseas, the couple saw how The Salvation Army showed up to support the soldiers and their families. “They noticed that other organizations charged for their services, but The Salvation Army handed out free food. That was my parents’ first introduction to how The Salvation Army serves people in need,” said Dr. Hankins.
Dr. Hankins is following in her mother’s footsteps as a loyal supporter of The Salvation Army. She admitted that during the Christmas season she can’t pass a red kettle without slipping in a donation, and she and her husband, Dr. Jordan Hankins, have been longtime members of the Red Kettle Club, an exclusive group of high-level donors in the Omaha area.
“I appreciate that The Salvation Army welcomes everyone,” she noted. “It offers an open-hearted acceptance that transcends all boundaries. And the Army hasn’t forgotten its core mission, which is Christ. The Salvation Army truly meets the physical and spiritual needs of people.”
Helen’s commitment to The Salvation Army has been passed down from her daughter to her granddaughter, Dr. Nancy Stewart, who in turn is introducing the tradition of support to her own young daughter and son. “We’ll be looking to start bell ringing next year in honor of my grandmother, who thought the world of The Salvation Army,” Dr. Stewart said. In the meantime, she and her husband Jeremy recently donated a set of exercise equipment to the North Corps Community Center, which has enabled the corps to create a weight room open to anyone in the community, particularly those who don’t have the financial means to join a gym.
“We didn’t think twice about giving the equipment to The Salvation Army,” Dr. Stewart said. “We love the mission and want to support the good work The Salvation Army does in the community.”
The patron saint of The Salvation Army would be pleased to know her legacy lives on in the three generations following in her footsteps.
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Photo Captions:
Top photo (front row): Jordan Hankins with John Henry Stewart, Katherine Stasiak Hankins with Helen Stewart. Back row: Jeremy Stewart, Richard Hankins and Nancy Hankins Stewart
Bottom Photo: Helen Raber Stasiak