A first-of-its-kind clubhouse for lone soldiers to meet each other and unwind while away from their bases is set to open its doors in central Tel Aviv today.

The 100-square-meter facility − part of the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center, a non-profit organization named for an American-born lone soldier killed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War − will provide the approximately 1,000 lone soldiers living in the Tel Aviv area with a place to watch television, surf the Internet, do laundry and receive counseling. It will also host regular Shabbat meals.

“The club will address the social, physical and emotional needs of lone soldiers,” said Yoav Suesskind of the Lone Soldier Center, which serves IDF soldiers from abroad without family in Israel.

“It’s a dream that everyone had for a long time. We were just missing the financing.”

The bulk of the $100,000 needed to open the clubhouse was donated by members of the Jewish community in Holland through Keren Hayesod − United Israel Appeal.

Frank Haven of Amsterdam organized several fundraising events there last year after learning that his son Daniel, then a lone soldier living in Tel Aviv, was taking a shared taxi to and from Jerusalem on Friday nights to attend the Lone Soldier Center’s Shabbat dinners.

When Haven learned that the organization did not have a budget for dinners in Tel Aviv, he pledged to raise the necessary funds.

‘A personal need’

“This is a very personal need,” Haven said in a phone interview. “My wife and I found it’s important for kids without a family in Israel to have a place where they can be together and have a warm meal on Friday evening.”

The clubhouse, located at 23 Ben Yehuda Street, will be run by professional staff and Lone Soldier Center volunteers, many of whom were lone soldiers themselves. These volunteers will counsel soldiers about their army service and career opportunities in English, Hebrew, Russian, French and Spanish, Suesskind said. ‏(Community members who would like to get involved should visit the center’s website, www.lonesoldiercenter.com.‏)

Shira, a lone soldier from El Salvador, said she has wanted to move to Tel Aviv but was concerned about leaving her kibbutz and its support system. “I can say that having a place like this where I know I can go ... and receive support will be a huge help,” she said. “It’s going to be a home away from home.”

The clubhouse will also be the new address for the Tel Aviv branch of the Lone Soldier Center, which previously rented space from the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel. Founded in 2009, the center provides meals, furniture and other forms of support to lone soldiers from 51 countries, according to co-founder Josh Flaster. There are more than 5,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

The center’s next goal, Flaster said, is to raise enough money to build a boarding house in Tel Aviv similar to Habayit Shel Benji, which opened in Ra’anana earlier this year and provides housing for 50 lone soldiers.