Jamie Yeomans brought four-year-old Andrew to the East Lansing Library to celebrate a big gift for local kids.

"We're very excited!" Yeoman says.

The Capital Area United Way, Capital Region Community Foundation and R. E. Olds Foundation joined forces and cut a $625,000 check to make sure local children have the tools they need to succeed.

"Anywhere from a third to half of children entering kindergarten are not prepared to be successful," explains Michelle Nicholson, coordinator of the 'Great Start Collaborative.'

But the 'Ingham Birth to Five Great Start Collaborative' plans to change all that by using the money to help kids in the first five years of their lives. That's the time most important to youth development.

"Kids can't succeed unless they come to school ready," Dennis Fliehman, President of the Capital Region Community Foundation, says. "They have to be fed, they have to be healthy, they have to have a head start on reading, they have to know their alphabet."

That's what the 'Great Start' program will do: provide education, health screenings, and support to local families.

The program focuses on preparing kids early on, so by the time they reach elementary school, they're already equipped to succeed.

That includes leveling the playing field.

"Kids from low-income environments know only about 4,000 words when starting elementary school," says Nicholson, compared to kids with more opportunities who know about 25,000 words.

"When you start school with that kind of gap, it's very difficult to close that gap," Nicholson explains.

But the 'Great Start' grant will help stop the gap before it starts. That means the world to Andrew's mom.

"We need to support children, especially this age group," Yeomans says. "So I'm very appreciative."