Steve Sogura will get a chance to not only make people happy but to help raise money for the Cancer Memorial Fund.

Sogura, a Tahoma High graduate who lives in the Ravensdale home he grew up in, will put on his Elvis tribute show at a fundraiser that starts at 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14 at Druids Glen Golf Club, 29925 207th Ave. S.E., Covington. The show will benefit the memorial fund organization that strives to honor the memories of loved ones who have lost the battle with cancer and celebrate those who have survived.

Kristin Habenicht, who volunteers with the organization, has been friends with Sogura since they were children. Habenicht’s parents are Sogura’s godparents.

“I would do anything they asked me to do even if it didn’t have to do with cancer,” Sogura said. “Music has been a passion of mine since I was a little tyke.”

Though he didn’t envision cultivating a second career as an Elvis tribute artist, he has been doing it for 17 years. It started when he ended up begrudgingly on a karaoke stage.

“Prior to that I had no singing experience,” he said.

He sang at karaoke bars and entered contests, even placed at one at Graceland during a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in 1994.

While Sogura said he isn’t a fan of putting on the make up and the costumes, he loves interacting with the crowd and singing music he grew up listening to.

“I enjoy singing Elvis’ music and I really feel it,” he said. “When people see it, I hope they get that.”

He knows people want to hear things like “Burnin’ Love” and “Hound Dog,” but he prefers singing the power ballads such as “My Way” and “Hurt.”

“I like the more vocally challenging songs,” he said. “A lot of people tell me that I’m doing it right. A lot of my show is humor, too, it’s not a serious straight laced show, song after song with no dialog. That’s what I really enjoy… the whole experience.”

Habenicht said Sogura is perfect for the fundraiser “because he draws a big crowd and is a great entertainer.”

She encourages anyone interested in attended to get tickets as soon as possible at www.cancermemorialfund.org. Tickets cost $25 in advance and $35 at the door.

“People should come to this fundraiser because of the disease that has touched us all,” Habenicht said. “We all know of someone currently or have known someone who has battled this disease and lost, and also, like myself and mother, survived. The fundraising that will come from this event will just bring the Cancer Memorial Wall one step closer to becoming a reality.”

The Cancer Memorial Fund was founded by Trish Adams, a Ravensdale resident, after she met David Snell of Maple Valley. Both were searching for meaning in the deaths of loved ones from cancer.

A concept took shape to honor the lives of those who lost their battles with the disease and the Cancer Memorial Wall was born.

Adams said it is similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and the first one – this will be a global effort with walls in locations from Mexico to Australia – will be built in Woodinville.

The nonprofit has partnered with King County Parks, Adams explained, for a long term lease on the property for the memorial wall and is working on similar partnerships in other countries.

It will cost $200 to get a loved one’s name engraved on the wall.

“These walls will give people a place to go and reflect, rejoice and remember,” Habenicht said. “And we are going to have a lot of fun (at the fundraiser).”

That’s something Sogura will do his best to ensure.

“It’s a natural high after doing a show,” he said. “It’s just a great, great feeling, especially when you make people happy.”