Richard Klebanoff, a resident of Plainview and a graduate of Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, recently held a Random Acts of Kindness open house at CitiBank in Plainview to promote and enlighten people about the mission of 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.

Each person contributes to the Random Acts of Kindness movement in different ways and Klebanoff holds open houses. He purchases hundreds of Random Acts of Kindness books and gives them away to people during the Kindness movement. He also gives away free gifts, which are donated to him by local stores.

In his spare time, Klebanoff, an attorney practicing in Queens, practices Random Acts of Kindness. "Law is my job," said Klebanoff, "but kindness is my passion."

Susan Klebanoff, Richard's wife, was also present at the event to assist her husband. "Everyone is so enthusiastic and we had major traffic here today at the bank. Richard is amazing and he has so much passion for this - he is unstoppable." said Susan, Richard's wife of 22 years.

The Klebanoffs, along with the many people they've inspired along the way, handed out printed materials explaining what Random Acts of Kindness is. Gift certificates, free gym memberships and many gifts were donated to Klebanoff for his campaign and they were given as free gifts to those who visited the table.

"Everyone seems to be starting to embrace Random Acts of Kindness," said Richard. "Everyone has been so helpful to me. There is a lot of enthusiasm here. We are so happy and appreciative that CitiBank has given us the forum to practice random acts of kindness."

Maria Pascarella, assistant vice president at CitiBank, is always pleased to have Richard and his kindness campaign at the bank. An estimated 650 people visited the kindness open house last Friday.

Many people have been touched by Richard's good gestures. Carri Fassberg gave Richard her number about two years ago and she has since gotten involved with Random Acts of Kindness. She goes to local vendors and asks for donations and also helped organize an essay contest in the local school districts.

"This is fantastic," said Plainview resident Elliott Silverman, a newcomer to the Random Acts of Kindness movement. "It is so strange because people come into the bank and nobody believes that they can get something for nothing." Silverman was performing magic for the children and the customers as they waited on line for the ATM or the teller. "I have never heard of this before, but it is fantastic. I feel good that I am participating with Richard and doing something nice," he said.

The Plainview Old Bethpage Moot Court team is also practicing a random act of kindness by practicing in front of local seniors at a senior citizen home. Jayshee Mantani and Sharon Lasher, both involved with the Moot Court team at Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, decided to practice kindness and take the students to Chestnut Grove on March 1. "This will be a unique presentation," said Richard. "The students will have the opportunity to practice in front of an audience for their upcoming competition and the seniors will have entertainment."

During the course of the day, Woodbury resident Dr. Myles Scott Kobren wandered into CitiBank and saw what Richard was doing. He thought Richard's generosity was so great that Kobren decided that he wanted to give back. He is going to sponsor an essay contest in the Syosset School District, where his children attend school. "I wanted to give back," said Kobren. "This is great and I would love to help."

Kobren offered to donate a $25 gift certificate to each male and female winner of an essay contest in each grade at Walt Whitman Elementary School in Syosset and also to donate Random Acts of Kindness books to the school's library in the name of the winning student.

Richard believes that kindness is contagious and hopes that the people he has touched with his generosity will in turn touch others.