The Iowa West Foundation, headquartered in Council Bluffs, has announced that its board awarded more than $5.2 million in grants to close out 2014. Those grants will assist 22 nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with funding for projects and programs that directly impact southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

Among the list of award recipients is:  Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands, community-based mentoring for children in Mills and Pottawattamie counties, $40,000; City of Council Bluffs, transformation of historic trolley building into a park shelter, $15,000; City of Council Bluffs, operating support to city arena, $100,000; City of Glenwood, lazy river feature for the Charles E. Lakin Aquatic Center, $50,000; Heartland Family Service, Children’s Center to address the behavioral health needs of children in our community, $100,000; Iowa JAG Inc., dropout prevention programs in Council Bluffs schools, $40,000; Iowa Newspaper Foundation, newspapers in southwest Iowa school libraries, $18,500; Iowa West Foundation Initiative, Iowa West Opportunity Scholarship Program for first-generation college students administered by the Iowa College Foundation, $400,000; Malvern Area Betterment Association, Main Street revitalization project in Malvern, $40,000; Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, CITIES program to support rural economic development, $665,000; Sons and Daughters of Imogene Inc., improvement to the baseball complex in Imogene, $10,000; City of Council Bluffs, support of events for 2015 LoessFest at River’s Edge Park, $175,000.