By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

CLIFTON - This weekend, hundreds of students from the University of Cincinnati will participate in a Relay for Life.

Cancer survivor and third-year student Jon Cremons will be one of them. The 20-year-old Anderson Township native has been in remission for 81/2 years after having two surgeries on his right arm and chemotherapy to remove a synobial cell sarcoma.

Last year, he participated in the relay by himself, but this year, he's brought two teams: his fraternity and a sorority.

"So many people gave so much to me, whether it was a call on the phone or bringing my family a dinner," Cremons said.

About 180 communities in Ohio will participate in the American Cancer Society event, which raised more than $9 million in 2002. Among those are relays at UC this weekend, and Miami University last weekend.

Kim Wolf, co-chair of the effort in Oxford, recruited 66 teams with an average of 10 students per team to participate. That's up from last year's 39 teams, which raised $54,000. This year's goal is $70,000.

For more information and dates, call (800) ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org and click on "community."

Thomas Barefield lives alone at the Metropole Apartments downtown and doesn't have any family in the area. But the 73-year-old still gets a regular visitor: Denny Kidder, a volunteer with Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly.

"I got out of the hospital after my heart attack, and the nurse was a volunteer with Little Brothers. She said she'd send somebody by, and they've been coming ever since," Barefield said.

Kidder, of Newport, received the Tom Wess Award from Little Brothers last week in honor of his volunteerism. Wess was the founder of the Cincinnati nonprofit organization.

"You get to know them, and they become a great friend. You listen a lot, talk about current events, watch TV together. That's what it's all about, going and making them know someone cares," the 48-year-old said.

For more information about Little Brothers, call 542-7555 or visit www.littlebrothers.org/cincinnati.

Karen Vance is writing the "Some Good News" column while Allen Howard is on vacation. Send items to ahoward@enquirer.com or fax to 755-4150.