When you walk down the streets of Santa Fe, one in every 10 people you meet works for a nonprofit.

Nonprofit workplaces range from private schools to performing-arts organizations to refuges for battered families.

A 2006 study by the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers revealed that New Mexico's nonprofit organizations are among the largest employers in the state. Twice as many people work for nonprofits as for state government. More people work for nonprofits than in manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas, and utilities combined.

When adding up wages nonprofits pay to employees ($1.2 billion in 2003) and goods and services these organizations buy, it's clear that nonprofits are an economic force in New Mexico.

The reasons nonprofits flourish in New Mexico and the northern part of the state especially are ones we can celebrate as well as ones that should cause great concern. Our arts organizations thrive on promoting and preserving the best our culture has to offer. Our environmental and human-service organizations exist, however, because the need to help families in poverty is so severe.

Santa Fe Community Foundation annually celebrates the hard work of all the region's nonprofits through the Piñon Awards. In recognizing the accomplishments of nonprofits, the Piñon Awards pay tribute to some of our community's unsung heroes who strive to make the quality of life here better for us all.

This year, the 22nd year of the Piñon Awards, the following organizations will receive grants of $2,500 each in a free public ceremony.

• Court Appointed Special Advocates, First Judicial District (CASA), will receive the John Gaw Meem Award for Civic Affairs for advocating for children removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. Trained adult volunteers speak on behalf of the children in courtrooms. In 2007, CASA worked with 229 children in 121 cases in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties.

• Celebrating 53 years of service, Girls, Inc. of Santa Fe will be honored with the Manuel Luján Sr. Award for Education. Girls, Inc. builds self-esteem in girls ages 5 to 18 with programs in health and pregnancy prevention, economic and media literacy, science, math and sports. The majority of participants are from low-income families. In 2007, the nonprofit served 350 girls.

• Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center will receive the Dr. Brian Moynahan Award for Health and Human Services for its trauma treatment center. The Center serves veterans returned from combat who also may have experienced some form of sexual violence. The Center provides training to law-enforcement personnel, health-care professionals and firefighters on working with victims of trauma.

• Receiving the John J. Kenney Award for Environment will be WildEarth Guardians for its protection of wildlife, wild rivers and wild places. Through scientific analysis and advocacy, WildEarth Guardians increases the sustainability of communities. Priorities include: restoring the Santa Fe River habitat; restoring wolves to the West; designating more than 5,000 miles of streams within New Mexico's national forest as "outstanding waters" and inspiring people to become voices in the protection of nature.

• Wise Fool New Mexico will receive the Gerónima Cruz Montoya Award for Arts and Humanities for its work in the arts of circus, puppetry and theater. It is staffed by women dedicated to using art as a means to change the world. The organization hosts a circus workshop for women to build physical and personal strength. Wise Fool sponsors the Peñasco Theatre project, where youth, children and adults participate in circus arts and permaculture workshops.

The Piñon Awards will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Lensic. The ceremony is free and open to the public. For information on the Benefactor's Dinner following the awards, call 988-9715 ext. 3.

Valerie Ingram is the Development Director at the Santa Fe Community Foundation and can be reached at 505-988-9715 ext. 4.