Our Story

Safety Village of Darien is a child safety educational program for children ages 5 through 10.

In the summer of 1987 the Hagen family, Dave, Cindie and children Kelly and Mark took a vacation to Oregon to visit family. On the evening of July 12th, Kelly, her brother Mark and cousin, Mike were walking to the arcade. As Mark was crossing the street, a driver who was not paying attention to the road, struck Mark and he lost his life within an hour. This accident took the life a nine-year old boy who was found to be crossing the street correctly.

After many months, the Hagen family was encouraged to start a small safety program for children in the area. As a family it was decided that with the very generous donations given in Mark’s name a safety program should be started. In the beginning it was thought that we would offer a small pedestrian program. The first class ended in 1988 with 39 students graduating and by the time registration was held for the 1989 classes Safety Village of Darien grew beyond all expectations. Our enrollment topped with 389 children enrolled in the classes. The goal then and now is to provide the very best in safety awareness education.

​

The picture above was Mark's last school picture, taken at Lace Elementary School.

 

Safety Village is completely run by donations and volunteers.