(Editor's note-Although the following article doesn't mention her service with the NFB, Annie Orr first got involved with the blind at Girl Scout Camp many moons ago, when she met a girl named June Rose. Annie has been a fixture at our state conventions for many years. She's been the treasurer of the Danbury Chapter for over 20 years, she's helped people get to National Convention, she's organized our chapter picnics and holiday parties, and her tireless efforts are very much appreciated)

DANBURY -- When the clock strikes 9 tonight, you can be certain 81-year-old city resident Annie Orr will be at First Congregational Church's Overflow Homeless Shelter, where she has been volunteering since it opened five years ago.

On Friday, the social action committee at the United Jewish Center will honor Orr for her years of dedication to the shelter, as well as to the many other causes in the community to which she has contributed.

Orr will be recognized at the United Jewish Center's 7:30 p.m. Friday service, which is open to the public, at the synagogue on Deer Hill Avenue. A reception will follow at 8:45.

For her entire life, Orr, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., has helped others in need. During World War II, while she was pursuing her nursing degree at Columbia Presbyterian School of Nursing in Manhattan, she spent her summers at Pfizer pharmaceutical company making penicillin.

Upon graduation, she worked as a nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and Philadelphia General Hospital in obstetrics, neurology and pediatrics. Shortly after moving to Danbury from Queens in 1960, she volunteered to be an American Red Cross nurse for the bloodmobile and disaster services programs.

Since the Dorothy Day Hospitality House opened in Danbury in 1982, Orr has given thousands of hours of her time to help out in its soup kitchen and shelter.

"Many times, we were filled to capacity and had to turn people away. In the cold weather months, I was very concerned about how they would keep warm," Orr said.

In 2003, First Congregational Church opened the Overflow Homeless Shelter in its basement. Every night Orr opens it, gives a hot drink and a snack to guests as they arrive, sets out supplies, and prepares coffee for the following morning. She's there on weekends, holidays, and through all kinds of weather. The shelter is open from November through April from 9 p.m. to 6:15 a.m., whenever the overnight temperature is 40 degrees or below. Volunteers from several local churches and synagogues take turns spending the night there. Whenever no one else is available, though, Orr sleeps there herself. She gets all the guests up in the morning, offers them food, and makes sure they're out the door by 6:15 a.m.

"I run a quiet, safe, comfortable shelter," Orr said. "I give everyone the respect they deserve, and they respect me the same way. I wouldn't say anything to them that I wouldn't have said to my own children."

Orr has received recognition from organizations throughout Danbury for her community service, including Person of the Year from Danbury Youth Services, Hero of the Year from the American Red Cross, and Woman of the Year from the Danbury-New Fairfield Women's Club.

"I've always had a desire to help the downtrodden," said Orr, a mother of five whose late husband, Jack, was a surgeon at Danbury Hospital. "By doing so, I hope that somehow something good rubs off on someone who needs it."

"Annie is the driving force behind the Overflow Homeless Shelter," said New Milford resident Sandy Brenner, co-chair of the United Jewish Center's social action committee. "The members of our committee have been so inspired and in awe of her contributions, not only for her work at the shelter, but of providing a very nurturing environment for all the guests."

"Annie Orr is a pillar and a model of caring and justice in a difficult world," said Rabbi Clifford E. Librach of the United Jewish Center. "She's a real fighter for what is right and is an inspiration to us all."

And she has no plans to slow down.

"My mother always said you should die with your boots on," Orr said.

For more information, E-mail us at: info@nfbct.org