In a message dated 8/26/2007 7:26:29 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, writes: 
 
We neeed a short bio, and an address for where we can send checks for her campaign, Bobby. 
 
Democratically, 
 
Jay 
 
ps. I know she is a GOPer. 
 
Dear Brod Jay: 
 
Thank you for your offer to help the campaign of Ms. Vellie Dietrich Hall. You can send your campaign contributions to: Vellie Dietrich Hall for County Supervisor, 7220-D Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003. Yes, you need a slow-mail address in view of your status as a blind person, which prevents you from sending your contributions via the Paypal. 
 
Your contribution is really heart warming, Brod Jay, considering that you are one of the highest-ranking Filipino-American Democrats in California. Yes, Ms. Vellie is a Republican candidate. 
 
As you cannot access her web site, I am reproducing hereunder her story (a first-person article). 
 
Once again, Brod Jay, maraming Salamat, 
 
Bobby M. Reyes 
 
Vellie's Story 
"Everything has to be a lesson," said her daughter Ayn. "That's why my mom is so successful." – Fairfax Journal, August 6, 2001 
 
Today, as President and CEO of HPS Enterprises, a management-consulting firm working with the Department of Defense to empower our military with the highest technical capabilities available in our nation, I feel tremendous pride in serving my country and my community. As a mother and a businesswoman, public service is very important to me, and that’s why I would be so honored to serve you as Mason District Supervisor. 
 
How I got here, and how I decided to announce my candidacy for this office, however, was a long journey from my childhood in the Philippines. But it’s a journey for which I’m very proud, and I thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to learn more about me. 
 
Forty-five years ago as a child on the streets of Butuan, Philippines, I was a doughnut peddler on foot with a steady basket on top of my head. Daily, I made my rounds in the slum neighborhoods as far as 15 miles away before walking back to my home. 
 
When I graduated from elementary school, I applied for a high school scholarship since public education was not free in the Philippines. If I could earn a scholarship, tuition, uniforms, and textbooks would be provided free of charge and I could finally grasp my ticket out of poverty. So, I competed for the scholarship with all my dedication and hopes. And among the top 50 scorers to receive scholarships, I came in a heartbreaking 51st.  
 
Determined to further my education, I knocked on the door of the scholarship administrator every day to ask for another chance. After two solid months, my persistence paid off and he extended the award to me. I ran home to share the news, exhilarated and breathless.  
 
That scholarship opportunity started the ball rolling for my way out of poverty. My educational career progressed and I eventually graduated from the University of the Philippines. In 1981, I came to America. 
 
I thought my life was a dream working in the United States and began dating an American who was a brilliant and successful structural engineer. We were soon married and had our daughter Ayn in 1982.  
 
Even with the new joy of a precious daughter, my perfect life soured before long. My husband’s successful career was facing increasing challenges and he turned to drinking. When the situation became unsafe and unhealthy for my child, it was time again to rely on the courage that had helped me leave behind the slums of my childhood.  
 
With only my one-year old, two diaper bags, one suit for interviews and a college degree in hand, it was again time to follow my belief that in the U.S., everyone has more than one chance at the American dream. Soon, I began working as a librarian and created a safe home for my daughter, where, despite any struggles we might face together, and there are many which every single mother faces, she would never feel the hopelessness and deprivation I had known growing up. 
 
As Ayn got older, she knew her clothes still came from the church thrift shop, but I was determined for her to participate in any activity her classmates did. I scrimped and saved so she wouldn’t miss swimming and music lessons, soccer teams, Girl Scout groups, and birthday parties. I never let her know how hard it was to find a way to afford those activities; I merely wanted Ayn to enjoy them fully, without guilt. 
 
When I was diagnosed with cervical cancer, Ayn was a freshman in high school. My first thought, again, was to protect her. I acted normally and kept my treatments hidden so that Ayn wouldn’t feel worried interacting with me. Even know she did not know it at the time, more that anyone else, Ayn helped me through that traumatic experience. As much as any treatment or medicine, she was the reason for my recovery. 
 
Professionally, I kept charging forward, too. My education opened doors, but I had to exhibit courage and confidence to get all the way inside. I constantly applied for jobs beyond my skill set, quickly studying as I went along in order to continue moving forward.  
 
Starting as an administrative assistant at a defense contracting firm, I pushed up to being a program manager. My difficult youth in the Philippines made it easier for me as a professional to keep self-confidence in the face of those who doubted the abilities of a young, immigrant woman.  
 
Today, I have achieved things I never imagined possible as a barefoot, hungry child in the Philippines. I am proud of the financial management work my company, HPS Enterprises, does for the Department of Defense.  
 
My desire to see others succeed extends beyond my Filipino kin. I also seek to empower other women through the Board of Trustees at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. I am proud of being the first Asian American Trustee in the college’s history, since it’s founding in 1897. 
 
I pour my heart into helping women at the same haven that helped me 23 years ago. I am a hotline crisis counselor/volunteer with the Battered Women Shelter in the Alexandria Domestic Violence Program where we focus on empowering women to chart the direction of their lives, free of victimhood and fear.  
 
My positive attitude is grounded in my belief in the ability of individuals to succeed despite tremendous odds working against them. Yes, friends, the American dream is indeed alive and well today, and I thank you again for taking these last few minutes to read about mine. I look forward to serving you as Mason District Supervisor, and hope to have the opportunity to meet you in person over the course of this campaign.