GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - Nineteen years after losing their only two children in a car crash, Yvette and Brian Pearse continued turning their grief into action on National Seatbelt Day.

Kiara and Jameel Pearse were killed in a car accident when neither was wearing a seatbelt. Their parents now use that tragedy to promote seatbelt safety through their nonprofit, the K&J Foundation.

“Wear your seatbelt at all times because I don’t want your parents doing what we are doing,” Yvette Pearse said.

Partnership with police offers compassion over citations

For the past three years, the K&J Foundation has partnered with Gulfport Police to distribute t-shirts instead of issuing tickets to drivers not wearing seatbelts.

“We are giving out t-shirts instead of tickets for people who are not wearing

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