The Good Beginnings Alliance has received $550,000 in grants for a campaign aimed at building support for improved early education opportunities in the islands.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded the alliance $500,000, while the rest came from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation.

The money will go to GBA’s “Be My Voice!” campaign, aimed at bringing light to issues affecting Hawaii’s youngest kids and “building will” for an improved early childhood education network in the state.

A growing body of evidence links high-quality early childhood learning with success throughout a person’s academic career and beyond.

“There is an urgency to begin early in a child’s life when the brain is in a state of tremendous growth potential,” said Elisabeth Chun, executive director of the alliance.

For more information, go to bemyvoicehawaii.org.