The Iowa West Foundation in Council Bluffs has announced first-quarter grants totaling $4.2 million in support of education, community development, and place-making projects in the area.

The awards to twenty-one nonprofits and government entities include a $1.1 million grant to the Green Hills Area Education Agency for preschool programs in Pottawattamie County aimed at students with the most at-risk factors for school failure. The foundation also awarded a $1 million grant to the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, for capital improvements and $850,000 to the City of Council Bluffs for  improvements to the landing area of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge near Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park, whose creation the foundation supported with a $5.5 million grant in 2010.

"Quality preschool programming crisscrosses the foundation's focus areas of education, economic development, and place making to achieve our intended outcome of strong healthy families," said Iowa West Foundation president and CEO Pete Tulipana. "Early childhood education is an important step to help children begin a successful educational tract."

For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the Iowa West Foundation Web site.