They're the unsung heroes of public agencies and community organizations everywhere.

Without them, plenty of programs wouldn't have the funding to begin or continue, leaving residents without the benefits offered by state and federal programs.

They're grant writers and administrators, the people who work tirelessly to find bucks and stretch a dollar even in the midst of recessions and budget cuts.

In the case of the Nye County Sheriff's Office, the job is done by Assistant Sheriff Rick Marshall and grant administrator Paula Lawrence.

Thanks to the work they do finding, tracking, and allocating grant money, Nye County youth learn about the risks of gangs and drugs through Gang Resistance Education and Awareness Training and Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs, (more commonly known as G.R.E.A.T and D.A.R.E.).

The four sheriff's office deputies who help keep Nye County's schools safer are also grant-funded positions.

Many Nye County residents have gotten car seats they might not have been able to afford thanks to the Occupant Protection program offered by the Office of Public Safety.

People who already have car seats can make sure they're properly installed with the help of an officer during safety checkpoints.

And then there's the personnel and equipment for the sheriff's office funded by grants.

"Grants have funded car cameras in vehicles, radars. A good portion of all our equipment has been funded through grants," Lawrence explained.

Marshall estimated that over the past 15 to 16 years, grants have saved the county approximately $20 million, often helping to fund equipment the county would have to purchase anyway.

"We go to just about any lengths we can to help offset the cost to the county," Marshall said. "We've had grants as small as $500 to pay for a laptop or a projector, and we've gotten grants as big as $2 million for equipment and personnel."

When most people think of grant writing and administration, piles of tedious paperwork and perpetually navigating through bureaucratic quagmires come to mind.

Although there is certainly paperwork involved (one grant can fill several two-inch, three-ring binders), Lawrence dispelled some of the perception of tedium.

"There's a lot of variety in it," Lawrence said. "I've enjoyed it because I get to learn about things I might not have in a different position, like the equipment. And I like working with the public."

For example, recently Nye County was invited to participate in the PACE program put on by the Department of Public Safety, another -- you guessed it -- grant-funded program.

PACE teaches teenagers safe driving techniques in which teams create a safe driving message in any format.

If the safety message qualifies, the teams get to participate in Driver's Edge, a competition where teams are given a number of hazardous driving tasks to complete including wearing "fatal vision goggles" (which makes your vision blurred and skewed as if driving drunk), skid control exercises, sharp turns, sudden stops and backing up hazardously.

The winning teams won a trip to Disneyland, tickets to a Las Vegas 51s game and Disney dollars to help with the trip.

Another aspect of Lawrence's job is researching equipment the grant money might fund.

"People ask me what I do and I tell them I'm a professional shopper," Lawrence joked.

Grants may be "free" money, but that doesn't mean they're easy to obtain or manage.

No matter what size they are, grants come with plenty of strings attached. These can range from media release requirements to where to go to match requirements and general qualifications.

In addition, since the government doesn't futz around when it comes to spending its money, grants have to be perpetually reported in a process similar to a perpetual audit.

For example, the Joining Forces grant is used to fund overtime for the officers conducting saturation patrols. But for each stop, the officer involved, any arrests or citations, the time of the stop, and a plethora of other information has to be logged and reported back to the grant agency.

Since different grants have different reporting requirements (from monthly to quarterly to yearly), keeping track of the grants and making sure all the paperwork is done properly and in a timely manner is a full-time job.

Marshall said he and Lawrence oversee five to six grants at any given time.

And then there's the work that goes into finding the grants in the first place.

The sheriff's office is notified of grants in a variety of ways.

One is through grant notifications regularly sent out through the state. Another is through good old-fashioned research into agencies that offer grants, such as the Office of Justice Assistance.

State and county lobbyists also track grants and there are a number of grant list services, such as grants.gov.

"We try real hard to have a personal relationship with our state administrators," Lawrence said.

That's literally paid off for the sheriff's office. If another agency hasn't used all its allocated grant funds, often the state takes the money back and will let the sheriff's office know it's available.

In addition, Lawrence has been able to get equipment for less money than the grant allowed, giving the sheriff's office the chance to request use of the leftover funds for other equipment.

Marshall said the sheriff's office, which enjoys a stellar reputation with grant agencies, has never been denied this sort of request.

Both Marshall and Lawrence are nationally certified grant administrators, and the forms they've used to apply or administer grants have been adopted by other agencies.

Provided they keep working, it's a safe bet Nye County residents will continue to benefit from the programs and public safety offered by the sheriff's office.