SHERBURNE – While Rogers Environmental Education Center may no longer be state funded, the mission of the center carries on through the Friends of Rogers Organization, who have relied on local contributions and volunteerism to keep the center open for the last year.

Hard budget cuts in the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation closed the doors of Rogers’ education center at the end of 2010, depriving the center of essential funding for education programs and eliminating five education staff positions.

Though the organization still benefits from minor ground maintenance by the state, the education center has evolved into a separate, non-profit entity over the last year. Rogers is still loved among many locals and remains a valuable asset in the community, said Friends of Rogers Director Cara Sefchick and with the initiation of the organization’s first official fund-raising mail campaign in November, the association hopes to see continuing support.

“We’re on the right path now,” said Sefchick. “Rogers means so much to so many people. We still have problems, but they can be overcome.”