The flow of charitable donations is often the first thing to vanish for nonprofits in a poor economy, and the New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches have not been immune.

The operation, which helps troubled boys and girls ages 10 to 18, has seen about a 20 percent drop in its budget because of the recent hard financial times across the state and nation. So in order to save money, the group will consolidate its Girls Ranch southeast of Santa Fe into its Boys Ranch near Belen, said director Michael Kull.

"The economy, our donations, everything's just way down," Kull said. "We're kind of in survival mode."

The Boys and Girls Ranches get no government funding or money from any big national organizations, but rather is run, for the most part, from smaller private donations, Kull said.

The 65-year-old charity will try to find a way to make money from the 117 acres of land near Lamy that the Girls Ranch occupies, he added.

"We're not sure how we'll do that yet," Kull said. "We're in a pretty nice area there near Lamy. I guess until we figure out what we're going to do, we'll use it for staff training, maybe try to have some summer-camp events there."

The consolidation should be finished by the end of August, when the school year starts. The Belen property is more than 2,000 acres.

The ranches provide housing, food, school and activities to youth who, for a variety of reasons, can't live at home.

"It can range from drug- and gambling-addicted parents to abandonment, death, divorce and many other reasons," Kull said.

The two facilities will merge into one co-ed ranch, which will save money because the group won't have to operate two schools, dorms, cafeterias and pools, Kull said.

"We estimate the consolidation will reduce our costs somewhere between $700,000 and $800,000 a year," he said.

The ranches' annual budget was about $5 million, he added.

"We'll also probably have fewer kids for a while," Kull said.

If the economy turns around or new donations come in, it's possible the group will reopen the Girls Ranch again as a separate entity, he added.

"But everything tells us the economy will come back slowly, and it will probably take several years," Kull said.

To donate to the group, visit its Web site at www.theranches.org.

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.