ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — There’s a children’s story that goes, “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie …” The tale goes on to describe all the things the little mouse will want once it has that cookie.

Well, there’s a real-life counterpart to the story. If you give a youngster a school uniform, he or she will be able to go to school with head high. Who knows what will result from that?

Only good things, believes members of the Robertsdale United Methodist Church’s uniform distribution team.

The group scours the area year-round for clean, gently-worn school uniforms, then sorts them by size and does any minor repairs (like replacing a missing button) that are needed. They then gives them away to school children whose parents might not be able to purchase uniforms for them.

“The ladies of the church have been doing this for more than 12 years,” said Jo Novotny, chairperson of the church’s health and welfare ministries, who added this was her fifth year with the distribution.

This year, the church provided packets of school supplies all done up by grade level.

“Last year, we registered about 250 children,” said Novotny. No matter how you cut it, that’s a lot of uniforms, pencils and paper.

The group’s mission is well-known to school officials.

“We get calls from schools,” explained Novotny.

In order to qualify for the distribution, Novotny explained that the parent needed a consent form from a school counselor or principal.

“There is such a need out there,” said Novotny, herself a retired schoolteacher.

That need stretched around the front of the church last week, as parents accompanied by some of their children, waited patiently for their chance at

those free uniforms.

“This is the first time I’ve been here,” said “Lynn,” who preferred not to give her last name. She had two daughters and a niece with her.

“My aunt told me (about the distribution) said “Cynthia,” who, like Lynn, declined to give her last name. “I would have found a way to get my children uniforms, but this makes a big difference.”

“This is a great means of expressing God’s love, said the Rev. George Sedberry, the pastor of RUMC.

He added that members of the congregation are involved in a number of charitable organizations throughout the community and that they “ …help others. They reach out in different ways.”

The uniform distribution, says Sedberry, “helps children begin the school year feeling they have as much as the richest child.”

Getting the distribution ready took a lot of hard work and planning. A phalanx of volunteers fanned out on distribution day to make sure everything ran smoothly. When a pair of pants was found to have a hole in the knee, one of the ladies present scooped them up, looked them over carefully, and declared that she “could make shorts out of them.”

“This is my mission,” said Donald Kral of Silverhill, as he organized piles of hangers, “If I can do anything, I want to do it.”

“This lady brought in two carloads of clothes,” said Lucy Morris indicating Joanne Clements.

“It was mostly stores that had bag sales. I’d just go in and buy a bagful of clothes. It was really nothing,” said Clements.

“The Lord be with you,” chimed one of the ladies distributing school supplies.

“Thank you so very much,” replied a grateful parent.