The Main Street Cafe hosts show to benefit Bill McAtee.

This Friday's show is more than just your typical evening of music. It is an opportunity to help out a family in a time of need.

On April 1st, Bill McAtee was diagnosed with cancer.

Bill and Sonya

Bill, 44, is married and has three children. He, his wife, Sonya, and his daughter, Alex, live in Nutter Fort. With his diagnosis, stage 2 unfavorable Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Bill has to undergo chemo treatments for twice as long as normal. This is due to having more than three cancerous masses.

"It’s in the lymph nodes, it’s in between my lungs, it’s on the outsides of my lungs and it’s in the bottom of my throat," Bill said.

Bill is three weeks into his chemo treatments, and between the sickness and side effects of treatment, daily life has seen some major changes for him and his wife.

"Day to day life, he’s home by himself all day while I work because I’m working as much as I can because I don’t have many days left that I can take with pay," Sonya, a preschool aid at North View Elementary, said.

Bill, a distribution manager for Dr. Pepper, has had to collect disability since his sickness.

"It's just, you get tired easier. There are side effects to the chemo. I had a low blood count, so I had to take another shot that’s painful in your bones," Bill said.

Although he's battling cancer, Bill and his wife are thinking of greater things.

"Our prayer is that, through this, God gets glorified. That’s what all trials are about, is God being glorified, and we hope that we can be light into somebody’s life that maybe is going through this later," Sonya said.

Bill adds, "Maybe somebody I’m sitting there having chemo with one day, I can witness to them and talk to them."

As for Bill's condition, they are optimistic about his future.

"It has a really high cure rate, and we trust that God is going to get him through it, and we’re not concerned at this point about him losing his life," Sonya said.

However, when he first received the news, Bill couldn't help but raise the question.

He said, "When the doctor first tells you you got cancer that’s immediately the first thing you think of, 'How much longer do I got?'"

But their steadfast faith in God lends them hope. On the day that they found out he was sick, Sonya stayed up late and wrote down uplifting scripture on 30-some note cards, which are now hung all around the house.

"I just wanted him, wherever he looked, to be encouraged," Sonya said.

Sonya said that, in addition to God, it is the love and support from family and friends that helps keep them going.

Bill and Sonya are long time family friends of Tyler Bish, The Cafe's friendly doorman, sound guy and all around hard worker.

They met when Bill was coaching Tyler's little brother's baseball team.

"I don’t even remember how it happened, but Bill asked me if he wanted me to be his assistant coach, and I was like yeah, sure I’ll do it," Tyler said.

"Ever since then he’s been a friend of my family," Tyler said, "They’ve been there for us no matter what."

When Tyler found out that Bill was diagnosed with cancer, he immediately knew he needed to do something to help. He talked with Daniel Bonner and Sissy Broadwater, The Cafe's managers, and without any hesitation they agreed to host a benefit show.

"That just means the world to me. That shows me not only do they care about this cafe and everything, but they care about people they don’t even know," Tyler said.

The show is aiming to help ease the financial burdens for Bill and Sonya. Between his inability to work and the medical costs, the family is going to be facing a $13,000 financial impact.

Upon hearing the news that a concert was being held in his honor to benefit their financial hardships, Bill was overwhelmed.

"It brought tears to my eyes. It’s just nice to know there’s still people out there that will do things for other people," Bill said.

Four bands and one solo artist are coming together this Friday to provide music free of charge for Bill's benefit. Transylvanian pogo-punks and admired scene veterans, The Renfields, are being joined by The Laser Beams (Huntington, WV rock), Jaguar Mountain Rundown (Uniontown, PA folk-punk), and  singer-songwriter Sonny Schaffer, who is also hosting the event.

Whether you want to support local music, local business or a local community member, grab all your friends and come out to The Cafe on Friday. It's worth it.

"I want people to know that that’s a place they can go, and they can hang out, and they’re good people. Daniel and Sissy are doing things for other people, and you don’t find that every day," said Bill.

Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. Admission is $5, with all proceeds from the door going towards the McAtee family.