PNC Financial Services Corp. made a pledge last fall to invest a jaw-dropping $100 million in early childhood education over the next 10 years. Today, the bank will kick off its initiative, known as "PNC Grow Up Great," by announcing a half-million dollars in grants, a big boost for employees volunteering in preschool programs and a media campaign.

In the first phase of the project, a dozen early childhood education programs in five states, including two Head Start programs in Pittsburgh, will share $503,000 in grants this year for programs that help children enter school ready to learn. The grants are about $40,000 each and may be renewable for up to three years.

The two grants in Pittsburgh are $44,000 to the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Centers, which runs Head Start centers in Overbrook and Knoxville, and $40,000 for the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development's Family Foundation Early Head Start, serving 170 children in nine communities.

As part of the initiative, PNC employees -- all 24,000 of them -- will be eligible for 40 hours of paid time off to volunteer in preschool programs. Employees may paint classrooms, tutor children, teach budgeting courses for parents, serve as board members with financial expertise or assist with computer technology.

Family Communications Inc., the company founded by Fred Rogers, will develop training for volunteers and also will help the preschool programs get the most out of the volunteers.

In addition, the bank will finance a news media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of school readiness.

Three public service announcements are already on the air, encouraging adults to turn everyday activities such as shopping into learning experiences for small children.

PNC also will sponsor special "Sesame Street" programming and distribute more than a million school readiness kits, workbooks and brochures to parents and children. And the bank will underwrite children's programming for public television's PBS Kids.

PNC Grow Up Great comes at a time when the importance of early learning for young children is beyond dispute. Numerous studies have shown that the first five years are critical to brain development and that those getting quality preschool experiences are way ahead in cognitive, social and emotional well-being.

That well-being, in turn, dramatically increases the likelihood of success in school and decreases the chances of juvenile delinquency. Yet a recent "report card" by the National Institute for Early Education Research showed that most states are doing a poor job of meeting the educational needs of their youngest citizens, and Pennsylvania was near the bottom of the heap by most measures.

The biggest bright spot in that picture is Head Start, the federally funded child development program for low-income families. But Head Start's budget doesn't cover all eligible children.

James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC, called the lack of school readiness "a critical issue that not only has negative consequences for children, but for society overall."

He cited research that found $1 invested in quality early education saves $7 in remediation later on.

To keep the initiative on track, PNC has recruited an advisory council of early childhood experts. The list includes W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research; Jerlean Daniel, associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh and former president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children; Sharon Darling, president of the National Center for Family Literacy; Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute; and Margery Petruska, director of children, youth and families for The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh.

"We are committed to being corporate champions for an important cause," said Eva Tansky Blum, PNC's senior vice president for community development. "But we also realize that at the end of the day, we're bankers. So we had to get the experts in the field on board."

Half of PNC's $100 million over the initiative's 10-year duration will cover employee volunteer hours, sponsorships, underwriting and educational materials. The other half will go to program grants in the five states where PNC does most of its business: Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, New Jersey and Delaware.

Debbie Gallagher, director of Early Head Start at the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Centers, said her organization will use its grant for science education in partnership with the Carnegie Science Center, with instructors going into the classroom and the children going to the science center on field trips. Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh also will hold classes to help parents work with their children on science-related topics.

At Pitt's Early Head Start program, coordinator Jeanne Taylor said the focus will be language development.

"We're planning a series of field trips built around certain topics," she said. "For example, animals. We might go to a petting zoo, then a pet store, then the Pittsburgh Zoo. Our families are missing those experiences to talk about."

Both local grant recipients will also make use of PNC volunteers.

The bank's branch offices already are offering brochures explaining the initiative, complete with educational tips.

More information is available at www.pnc.com -- click on the Grow Up Great logo.