Jennifer Love Hewitt
The 2007 Lake Arrowhead Film Festival’s Humanitarian Award

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt has pretty much done it all.  She’s played icons as different as Nancy Sinatra and Audrey Hepburn.  She was a child star on Kids Incorporated, a teen star on Party of Five, and a mature young woman on CBS’s hit drama series, Ghost Whisperer.  And if that’s not enough, she has also released four studio albums, including the hit, BareNaked, in 2002.

But despite her many talents, it is for an entirely different reason that the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival has chosen to honor Ms. Love Hewitt.  Something far more important.  Her kindness.

Four years ago, in the fall of 2003, the mountains community was devastated by a raging wild fire known as the Old Fire.  Over 300 homes were destroyed and many families lost nearly everything they owned.  As the holidays drew near, families found very little to celebrate.  It was as though a fiery Grinch had stolen Christmas.

That’s when Jennifer stepped forward.  Ms. Love Hewitt and her family have been part-time residents of the mountains community for years and she was touched by the plight of the residents.  So in December of ’03, Jennifer threw a private party for families that had been affected by the fire.  Children walked into the gymnasium of Rim of the World High School and found mountains of toys waiting for them.  No reporters were there.  The media was not called.   It was a simple act of quiet generosity in a season of giving. 

But it was a gesture that those families – and this community – will never forget.

Jennifer has also graciously agreed to host our Midnight Horror Movie this year.  The film, I Know What You Did Last Summer (starring Jennifer), will screen at 11:30 pm on Saturday night.  The screening is a benefit for Rebuilding Mountain Hearts and Lives – an organization that continues to help the families affected by the Old Fire.