To the editor:
In response to the article by Elizabeth O'Connell in the September 3, 2025 Warren Times (The beautification of Massasoit Spring, East Bay Life) about the beautification of Massasoit Spring and the article by Michelle Mercure in the recent East Bay Homes about pollinator gardens (Front years deserve sanctuary status too, East Bay Homes, September 10), I wish to thank the postal workers at the Warren Post Office who, in 2023, along with the Warren Volunteer Gardeners who secured a grant from the RI Wild Plant Society to create a pollinator garden at the post office.

As I have watched its growth and bring both native flowers and pollinators to the corner of Child Street and Railroad Avenue, I see that our community is contributing to a pollinator pathway. Such pathways are essential to healthy ecosystems and support biodiversity, which in turn promote health human wellbeing.

Pollinators are to increase the number of insects necessary for the survival of our declining bird population. A Cornell University research study reports that since 1970 there has been a loss of almost 3 billion North American breeding birds due to loss of habitats (development and degradation), invasive plants as well as pesticide use and agricultural practices.

Garden centers such as Prickly Ed's Cactus Native Plant Patch on the Barrington/Swansea state line help those of us who wish to promote native (wild) plants through both their efforts to educate and provide a wide selection at their emporium.

I applaud the Post Office and those who began the native plant garden there for helping increase pollinator pathways.

Jeanne Leffers
Warren