Major Klemanski Commands New York’s Salvation Army
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Silver bells are not the only kind Major Guy Klemanski of the Salvation Army will be ringing this year. Tomorrow, the newly promoted New York divisional commander is scheduled to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, along with the brass from Bank of New York.
According to the major, the message will be “to thank New Yorkers for all that they have done to help others through the Salvation Army.” Also, maybe to gently nudge Wall Streeters into sharing this year’s gigantic bonuses.
This time of year, the Salvation Army is especially visible around the country — and indeed around the world — as its corps of volunteers hit the streets with their familiar kettles, asking passers-by for donations. In the greater New York area alone, 300 bell ringers will raise over $2 million, funding nearly 400,000 holiday meals for the hungry and the distribution of more than 100,000 toys to needy children.
Needless to say, there is a great deal more to the Salvation Army than the ringing of bells on busy December sidewalks. This worldwide organization was founded in 1865 by a former Methodist minister, William Booth, to provide social services to those then living in appalling poverty in London’s East End. Today’s mission in 111 countries around the world is “to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” The Salvation Army is actually a protestant Christian denomination, and its officers consider themselves its ministers. Remarkably, in this era of increasing religious intolerance, the Army has seemingly managed to stay above the fray.
Perhaps that is because the organization is so visibly effective and helpful at times of national disaster. During nonstop coverage of the horrifying aftermath of Katrina, for instance, no group was more visible than the legions of Salvation Army officers and volunteers from all over the country that converged on the region. FEMA may have been unable to get off the ground in the wake of the country’s worst-ever disaster, but the Salvation Army by month’s end had distributed more than 2 million meals and sheltered 80,000 people who had nowhere else to go. In the weeks that followed, the Army assisted more than 60,000 people trying to find lost relatives or friends, and continued to serve millions of meals to hungry survivors.
The Army’s successful navigation of these politically charged times is also aided, no doubt, by the evident sincerity and dedication of its officers. Army officers of all stripes — U.S. and Salvation — are as a rule underpaid and overworked, and serve at the whim of the higher-ups. Although his positive and cheerful demeanor would argue otherwise, Major Klemanski most likely falls into this category.
The major entered the Army right out of high school in Lewiston, Maine. He was the youngest of five children in a family struggling with an alcoholic father. His introduction to the Army came through the basketball and scouts programs offered in that small town. His mother sent him and his siblings to the local Baptist church, where he and two older brothers became committed to the teachings of Christ, and interested in applying that ministry to helping others. All three ultimately became Salvation Army officers.
Major Klemanski entered a two-year training program in 1969 and, as was the practice in those days, emerged as a Lieutenant. He was posted to various New York locations and in 1972 met and married his wife, who is also a Salvation Army officer. The organization more or less requires couples to work together, and until recently they were promoted together as well. (These days, political correctness has created some sensitivity to the need for one spouse to occasionally outrank the other.)
The Klemanskis have moved around the country innumerable times, serving the needs of local Salvation Army chapters, mostly working with youth programs. With the help of flexible work schedules, they have managed to raise two children, neither of whom is following in their parents’ footsteps. Both instead are helping people through medical and psychological outreach.
The families of the Salvation Army are awarded a home and car, and an “allowance” that goes up every three years to cover the costs of inflation. Today, this remuneration ranges between $20,000 and $26,000 a year. Clearly, no one is entering the Army to get rich.
Instead, Army officers — there are now 3,553 in America — are committed to the mission. Major Klemanski explains: “It’s not just a job, but a calling.” A decade ago, the number of young people entering the Army was declining, but more recently it is on the increase. Very few drop out along the way, according to the major.
Major Klemanski has a big job, overseeing the activities of 2,200 employees and thousands of volunteers in the greater New York area and managing a budget of more than $100 million. Among other programs, the New York division includes seven rehabilitation centers, each of which houses 500-600 men suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. The centers offer a 12-step program, which requires a faith-based involvement (not necessarily Christian) and boasts a recovery rate of 22%. Most such programs attain success rates in the single digits.
The Army also manages shelters, and on average housed 2,400 people a night last year. Its members visited with 22,000 shut-in elderly persons, and served more than 2.9 million meals to hungry New Yorkers. The Army operates youth centers, such as the famed basketball program in Hempstead, whose illustrious graduates include Julius Erving and Kenneth Chenault.
The Army steps up when there is an electrical outage or some other disaster in our own backyard. It is part of the response planning of New York’s Office of Emergency Management, a role that was doubtless encouraged by their on-the-spot assistance in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
The Army is full of traditions, including the military uniforms that were styled, as with the ranking system, on the British equivalents of days past. A charming local tradition is the lunchtime concerts at the “21” Club these weeks before Christmas. More than 70 years ago, the owner of “21” heard a lonesome trumpeter outside the restaurant on a bitter December day, and invited the volunteer in to warm up. In appreciation, the fellow entertained the club’s patrons with Christmas carols, and a tradition was born.
Major Klemanski sees his mission “as making sure no man or woman, boy or girl, goes without. The biggest thing is to make sure no one goes hungry or is homeless, and that nobody is without hope.”
As we said: A big job.