More than three years after Kelley Mason passed away in a tragic car accident, her family continues to raise awareness about seatbelt safety by helping to fund initiatives in town. Last month, the Mason family, along with some friends, made a $12,000 donation to the Guilford Police Department.

Since Mason's accident, the family has donated approximately $40,000 to the department, with the money going toward efforts to help secure the safety of residents, including funding seatbelt checkpoints. The family holds an annual brunch and fundraiser event each fall to help raise money for safety promotion efforts.

"Without them, we wouldn't have been able to have the money to set up the check points and have the officer to work in the roads to do the seatbelt enforcements," said Sgt. Robert Dube.

Another safety activity that the department is able to provide thanks to the Masons includes the popular Child Safety Seat Clinic. Using money from the Mason Family Account, five officers were able to get certified as child seat installation technicians through the department. The child seat check ups are provided free of charge.

"The last [clinic] we had, we did about 92 seats, so there was a pretty good crowd. We like doing it because we feel safer knowing people installed it correctly," Dube said. "Out of the 92 we had...only one was put in correctly [when it arrived], so we feel really good that we're able to get those kids in there safely."

Dube said these installation clinics have been extremely popular in the past, attracting residents from as far away as West Haven and Milford.

"There is a big demand for them because there's not too many police departments or fire departments doing it anymore, so we're getting people from all over the state coming in," said Dube.

The installation checks were originally scheduled to run the first Wednesday of the month from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., and the third Sunday of the month from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., but due to officers' duties, schedules vary. The next scheduled clinic is on Sunday, Jan. 20; Dube said to call the department prior to the date to confirm.

To learn more about the checkpoints and child seat installations, call the Guilford Police Department at 203-453- 8061.