On the night of December 15, Brenda Kelley Nelum was late for a prior engagement. The twenty-five year Prince William County resident and AARP member was stuck inside the West Wing of the White House.

President Obama was signing new legislation that stopped a pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients. Nelum was an invited guest to the Oval Office.

"I was humbled the White House selected me," said Nelum. "I was one of many volunteers."

Nelum worked tirelessly to help pass this bill as a volunteer spokesman for AARP. According to the Sustainable Growth Rate, a pay cut was due for doctors who treat Medicare and TRICARE members. She made phone calls and followed up with visits to Senators Warner & Webb at their DC offices. She also wrote letters to the editor to local papers to stop this pay cut casually referred to as the "Doc fix."

"The way the system is set up, doctors do not want medicare patients," said Nelum. "I argued we were being cheated."

Nelum calls herself an aging advocate. She also is a member of the Commonwealth commission on aging. Her passion for this volunteer work truly comes from within. She came from a small family and her own mother did not even claim social security.

"People see me coming and they know it's something about seniors," said Nelum. "Some people call me Miss AARP."

But Nelum knows the fight to stop the pay cuts once and for all is far from over. "We still don't have a permanent fix."