By Anna Skinner
The Fischer family has five children, but they all tease that Fishers resident Jason Llewellyn is the sixth. They even joke about photoshopping him into the family’s Christmas photos. Llewellyn has served as a financial advisor for the Fischer family for 17 years. When patriarch Jim Fischer was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Oct. 2014, it came as a shock to the Fischer family and to Llewellyn.
Through his financial advising, Llewellyn came to know the Fischer’s daughter, Jill Petruzzi, a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society board. She recently nominated Llewellyn to run as the 2017 LLS Man of the Year.
“I sit on the board of trustees at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so I am very involved with the organization,” she said. “I know a lot about the campaign and (I nominated him) because of Jason’s passion for life. He’s competitive. He has been so loyal and kind to my mom and dad, and Jason didn’t even really let me get the full sentence out of my mouth before he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it. I’m all in.’”
Petruzzi served on the LLS board prior to her father’s diagnosis.
“My whole point in nominating Jason is to raise awareness so people don’t have to go through what my family’s gone through, so they don’t have to see their father suffer,” Petruzzi said, whose father is now in hospice care.
The LLS Man and Woman of the Year campaign kicked off this month. It continues through May 13. A gala will be held in downtown Indianapolis where the Man and Woman of the Year will be named.
“The way the campaign works is, from March 2 to May 13 we raise as much money as we can individually, and nobody knows how the other candidates are doing,” Llewellyn said. “There’s no update. We have no idea how each other are doing.”
Llewellyn’s goal is to raise $100,000. He plans to do so by hosting a variety of fundraisers. Ticket and table sales for the gala purchased through Llewellyn’s team will go toward the overall goal. Monetary donations and corporate sponsors also are accepted.
“This gives me the ability to help make a difference in the community by raising awareness in honor of Jim because of all that he had done for me over the years,” Llewellyn said. “He’s been a good sounding board, and he’s been a good mentor over the years, so it was a way for me to kind of give back to him with the hope that down the road there is a cure that’s found and other families don’t have to go through what (the Fischers) have gone through.”
“He’s still fighting,” Petruzzi said of her father. “You’ve got to love his fighting spirit.”
Llewellyn is one of five men running for the Indianapolis-area LLS Man of the Year. Four women are running.
For more or to donate, visit mwoy.org/pages/in/indy17/jllewellyn.
Jason Llewellyn’s Man of the Year fundraising events
For more, contact Jason Llewellyn’s wife Missy at [email protected].
Event with former IU basketball coach Bob Knight – A private event at a home in Fishers April 20. The event will be a small group setting with Knight sharing stories and answering questions. Cost is $400 per person and includes food and drinks. All proceeds will benefit LLS.
Wine tasting event – This event will be hosted by Tasteful Times April 27 and held at the CMG Building, 10500 106th St., Indianapolis. There will be food from restaurants around the Fishers/Indianapolis area as well as 25 different wines to sample. Cost of this event is $50 per ticket with all proceeds benefitting LLS.
