A philanthropic powerhouse for more than 30 years, the Chicagoland Italian American Charitable Organization has bestowed nearly $900,000 in scholarships and tens of thousands more to veterans in need over the decades.

Most of those funds have been raised at its annual Honor and Hope gala, but this year CIACO has decided to mix things up a bit. “We’ve all been at the Festival Center at Casa Italia and know its potential as an outdoor event venue,” says recently elected president Lou Scaramuzzo. “We put our thinking caps on and completely re-imagined our gala.”