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Thanks to Thrive by Five Washington and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, another key piece has been added to the puzzle in terms of ensuring that Yakima continues as a thriving community into the future -- and even becomes a model for the rest of the country.

Bill Gates Sr. came to Yakima on Friday to announce an initial foundation grant of $5 million for an early childhood learning center and related programs. The ambitious investment is projected to reach $30 million over a 10-year period.

This in a community that:

* Is aggressively rebuilding the downtown area with a new look and purpose.

* Is seeing a dramatic reduction in major crimes, thanks to joint citizen and law enforcement efforts.

* Finds agriculture in the area is into innovative changes, including a blossoming wine industry that dovetails nicely with increased tourist opportunities.

* Already boasts a K-12 public school system in which test scores are up and is on the verge of putting together a needed building program proposal to present to district patrons. The Thrive by Five -- the local affiliate is called Ready by Five -- is a sweeping new early childhood education program that promises to complement and make even better an improving school system.

Key players in the proposed project in Yakima -- which tentatively would be headquartered at the site now housing the Southeast Yakima Community Center -- discussed its details and goals in a session Friday with this newspaper's editorial board.

Given its emphasis on early childhood education -- and a key component that requires parental involvement -- we see this as another winner for the community.

The Ready by Five project has been in the works since summer 2006, when the Gates Foundation selected Yakima as one of two state demonstration communities aiming to improve school readiness for children 5 and younger. The other early learning demonstration community is White Center, an unincorporated, ethnically diverse neighborhood southwest of Seattle.

Yakima is one of only two Washington state communities chosen that will field test the best early learning approaches for children and families, including child day care and adult literacy where necessary, while serving as a model for what can be done throughout the community. 

And there's a reason Yakima was picked -- not only for demographics, but because of the type of bootstrap effort for which the community is noted. People from 42 organizations in the public and private sectors spent more than 18 months developing a plan for the local Ready by Five. It was an effort that greatly impressed the folks at the Gates Foundation and played a major role in the funding selection.

We look forward to this promising program being woven into the fabric of a community that is witnessing some exciting developments these days. And thanks to the Gates Foundation for providing another important component.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.

"Listen to the Editorial Board":http://yakimaherald.com/audio/050908thrive_by_five1.mp3