Hi! My name is Amarah. Kids are important to me, and they’re important to Jesus, too.

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 (KJV), “Whatever you’ve done unto the least of these (kids), you’ve done it unto me.”

“Kids like me” are kids and adults of all ages whose parents are, or were, drug addicts, and alcoholics; kids who have suffered, or who are suffering, abuse and neglect on multiple levels; and kids who are victims of bullying.

Hey, kids like me! Where are you? I am looking for YOU! Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, foster parents, caretakers of kids like me - we have some good things for kids like me this Christmas! If you know a kid like me who needs help to have a better Christmas this year, please, pick up/drop off a Christmas application to Amarah’s Kids Like Me at Ace Hardware, 157 Craft Drive, Alamosa, CO.

We will have a FREE bowling party at Alamosa Bowl, 204 Victoria Ave., Alamosa, from 2-5 p.m., Sunday, Christmas Eve (12/24/17)! And, kids like me and their family can get a FREE VIP Family Pass to Colorado Gators! The pass is good from December 26, 2017 - January 5, 2018. Get your application in early! Turn it in by Monday, December 18, at Ace Hardware, Alamosa; or mail your application to me at P.O. 354, Alamosa, CO, 81101. Hurry! We need to receive your application by Monday, December 18, to match requests/donations!

I want to say, “Thank You” to New Hope Church in South Fork for inviting me to their church. It was an honor. Thank you for helping kids like me. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 (KJV), “Whatever you’ve done unto the least of these (kids), you’ve done it unto me.” God Bless You!!

Kids like me everywhere are praying that Santa, his magic sleigh and reindeer will bring something special for them because Santa and Christmas are magic! Kids like me see families happy together and presents piled high under Christmas trees. People smile and say, “Merry Christmas” and it gives us hope that maybe Christmas might be merry, after all. But, in reality, Christmas isn’t ‘merry’ for kids like me. When I was a kid with my mother in her addiction, I was thinking about survival and how I was going to live, and if I was going to live.

Christmas is a train-wreck for kids like me. Everything revolves around our addict-parent and his/her addiction. When the parent drinks and/or uses drugs, they say awful things - like when my mother called me a bitch when I was little and said she was sorry I was born because I ruined her life. Christmas isn’t pretty for kids like me. We worry about our parents, about having something to eat, we worry about everything. Some kids like me wake up Christmas morning in foster care because of what our parents did the night before. Kids like me wake up Christmas morning with no presents at all because our parent(s) spent all the money on drugs and/or alcohol. Christmas presents under the tree of a kid like me are abuse, neglect, sadness, sorrow, grief, and abandonment.

Please, give your child the BEST Christmas, ever. Call Dr. Barbara Troy at Alamosa Family Medical Center and get help for yourself, your addiction, and your child(ren).

SLV Federal Bank is donating $30,000 to charities in the SLV. Amarah’s Hope For Kids Like Me is asking you to vote for us to raise money to help Kids Like Me. If you bank there, PLEASE go in and fill out a ‘Share the Spirit of Giving’ form for each of your accounts and list Amarah’s Hope for Kids Like Me as Charity name.

Thank you, for reading my column. Write to me at Amarah’s “Kids Like Me” P.O. Box 354, Alamosa, CO 81101. If you know a kid like me, or parent, who is an addict/alcoholic, please tell him or her about “Amarah’s Corner, Kids Like Me” in the Valley Courier. Tell them to contact me, or you can contact me on their behalf. If you know a kid like me, or parent, who doesn’t have a Bible, but wants one, please, contact me. I’ll make sure he/she gets a Bible, “…and all the earth may know there is a God…” (1 Samuel 17:46, KJV).

Amarah’s “Kids Like Me” offers non-denominational World Bible School (WBS) Bible Correspondence Courses (free/postage paid) in English/Spanish to kids like me (ages 8-12), their parents, and even if you’re not a kid like me! Teens/adults take the WBS Master Series Courses so if you would like the WBS Courses, send your name/age/address and I’ll get you started ASAP! I hope to hear from you soon!

My goal is to help kids like me, and I want to help their parents, too. Until next time, remember, Jesus Loves You, and JESUS IS LORD!