The Iowa West Foundation in Council Bluffs has announced grants totaling more than $3.7 million in support of nonprofit organizations and government entities across southwest Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

In its second funding cycle of 2021, the foundation awarded grants in support of healthy families, education, rural placemaking, and economic development initiatives. Grants include $150,000 to Children's Square to provide emergency shelter for children; $200,000 to Harrison County in support of the future Willow Lake Nature Center; $35,000 to SHIFT ATL for renovation of a commercial building; $1.5 million for the final installment of a $9 million commitment to revitalize West Broadway; and $10,000 each to the rural volunteer fire departments of Hancock, Treynor, and Walnut.

Additional grants include $100,000 to Advance Southwest Iowa for entrepreneurial development for southwest Iowa; $30,000 to the Audubon County Conservation Board for playground equipment at Littlefield Recreation Area; $75,000 to the National Arbor Day Foundation in support of emerald ash borer community tree recovery; and $40,000 to the Stanton Community Foundation in support of downtown revitalization efforts.

"The range of communities both rural and urban that will benefit from these grants and initiatives is what makes this announcement so meaningful," said Iowa West Foundation president and CEO Brenda Mainwaring. "The funds extend more than a hundred miles throughout southwest Iowa and include programs and projects that support local residents' efforts to make their communities safer, more prosperous, and even more appealing."

For a complete list of grant recipients, see the Iowa West Foundation website. 

(Photo credit: National Arbor Day Foundation)