Staff Sergeant Noam Avital is a lone soldier who made Aliya (immigration to Israel) from the United States. A simple good deed inspired him to assist hundreds of lone soldiers in need of help.
Israeli lone soldier
It all began when a neighbor saw Staff Sergeant Noam Avital and his friend throwing away an old closet. The neighbor explained that he had furniture he was no longer using, and told them they could take anything they needed. The experience inspired Noam to ask a friend, also a lone soldier, if he needed furniture for his apartment as well.
“I thought that it’s really nice of people to give away things they don’t need,” Noam said. “I shared the experience on Facebook with my friends. After two or three hours, I got so many messages that I thought my inbox was going to explode.” Thousands of people saw Noam’s post and sent messages offering to donate cabinets, beds, TVs, tickets to sporting events and more. All together, he received about 4,000 messages from people he didn’t know.
Noam decided that he was especially passionate about helping lone soldiers like him. He took donation requests from lone soldiers across Israel, and gave them everything they would need to furnish their homes. “I received so many requests that I wasn’t able to deal with all of them,” he explains. “Then, a student contacted me through Facebook. She took all of the requests and information and put them together into a form.”
Soldiers at the IDF’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) training school volunteer regularly with physically and mentally disabled senior citizens.
It wasn’t long before Noam and the student began working together. They opened a Facebook page called “Good People for Lone Soldiers,” (in Hebrew), where people posted messages about the things they would like to donate. Lone soldiers also posted notices about the things they needed.
“I thought to myself, ‘This is amazing; if I can help to one person or two, why not more?” Eventually, we managed to reach out to hundreds of lone soldiers,” Noam explained. As long as I’m in the army, I’ll continue with this project. Actually, I’m quite sure that I’ll never leave this project.”
Good deeds in the IDF: Israeli lone soldier
Every year in March, people all over the world celebrate Good Deeds Day. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers help other people in need. This annual celebration gives people the opportunity to improve others’ lives and change the world for the better. The IDF is joining the amazing worldwide celebration of Good Deeds Day. Here’s a look at the good deeds that Israeli soldiers perform year round:
-
- Soldiers volunteering on their base with students from the the Renanim Special Education School.
-
- The Home Front Command maintains a year-round relationship with the Sepharadic Home for the Aged in Haifa, Israel.
-
- Navy officers tutor students in physics, math, English and social studies.
