Richard Klebanoff, a resident of Plainview and a graduate of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, became involved in the Random Acts of Kindness Movement and has been "hooked" ever since.

Klebanoff is an attorney and in his spare time he also does some writing and is working on producing an animation series. "The title character is Kourage from Kinderville," said Klebanoff. "Kinder and Kindness, children and kindness, seem to go hand-in-hand."

As he was working on his writing, he was browsing the bookstore and came across the series of Practice Random Acts of Kindness books and became very interested.

"I read the book and loved the phrasiology Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty," said Klebanoff, a personal injury attorney. "It struck a nerve with me so I contacted the foundation and I have been sucked in ever since. It is such a rewarding and uplifting involvement. It is very hard to find any negativity about kindness."

Established in 1995 as a nonprofit organization, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness. The emphasis of the foundation is to create and strengthen communities by inspiring local coordinators, individuals, teachers, schools, faith groups, service clubs and other community-based groups to share kindness with others and/or participate in kindness activities.

The Kindness Movement is an international movement dedicated to making the world a kinder place. The goal is to demonstrate the extraordinary power and importance of simple human kindness by promoting the practice of kind acts, large and small, on a regular basis.

Stemming from the concepts of Random Acts of Kindness, every Thanksgiving since 1991, Klebanoff's law office has been donating a portion of every legal fee received on every case concluded to a charity of the client's choice as part of our Restore the Faith (in the legal profession) Campaign.

Each person contributes to the Random Acts of Kindness Movement in different ways and Klebanoff holds open houses to promote and enlighten people about the mission of kindness. He purchases hundreds of Random Acts of Kindness books and gives them away to share them with people during the Kindness movement. He also travels with what he calls the "Karavan of Kindness" and has a clown and Magic Al, also a Plainview native, perform for local residents and distributes contributions from vendors.

These open houses are held at Citibank in Plainview and the most recent one took place on Nov. 16. Assemblyman David Sidikman was there to present a proclamation to Klebanoff declaring the week of Thanksgiving Random Acts of Kindness week in Plainview. The week around Valentine's Day is also Random Acts of Kindness week, but Klebanoff hopes people practice kindness year round.

Klebanoff doesn't ask for donations or sell raffles, but does ask for volunteers "Anyone who wants to spend money, I ask them to buy a gift and give it to me and during the two weeks, I find a way to give it away," said Klebanoff.

"I get out of this a millionfold what I put into it," said Klebanoff. "All I want to do is work on Random Acts of Kindness. I find that so many people want to help and get so happy when they do. We try and put a smile on people's faces."

The next Random Acts of Kindness Week and open house at Citibank in Plainview is scheduled for Feb 14 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents are encouraged to attend and Practice any Random Act of Kindness.