By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – After dealing with the tragedy of losing her daughter, Elaine, to childhood cancer in February, Alabaster resident Laura Roberts and other Thompson High School tennis moms began thinking of a way to support families dealing with a similar situation.

Last summer, several of the tennis team mothers organized and held a successful yard sale in the THS cafeteria to raise money to support Elaine, who was a member of the THS tennis team. At the time, Elaine was battling metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a rare and aggressive form of cancer primarily affecting children.

On Feb. 6, 16-year-old Elaine died, setting off a wave of support for the Roberts family from the Alabaster and Pelham communities.

“Since we held the yard sale last year, a lot of the tennis moms have been asking if we were going to do it again this year,” Laura Roberts said. “We thought it would be a good way to honor her memory and support the Elaine Roberts Foundation.”

On Saturday, June 18, Laura Roberts and other tennis team parents will host their second annual Elaine Roberts yard sale in the THS cafeteria, featuring everything from dresses and clothing to full bedroom suite. All proceeds will benefit the Foundation.

The yard sale will be held from 7 a.m.-3 p.m., and volunteers will accept donations at the school on June 16 and June 17 from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. each day.

Through the Foundation, the Roberts family is working to educate families about childhood cancer and the lack of funding it receives, and is working to raise money to support finding a cure.

Laura said the Foundation’s primary goal is to raise the survival rate for childhood cancer and support families battling the disease.

“It’s hard to prepare your children for something like that. You can say ‘Don’t text and drive, don’t drink,’ but it’s hard to prepare for a battle with cancer,” Laura Roberts said. “If you look at the cancer Elaine had, more than half of the children who are diagnosed with it die. We want to raise the survival rate.”