Appealing happy military woman laughing while looking at her daughter eating cookie (Von zinkevych - Adobe Stock)
Moving to a new country can be stressful even for the most seasoned, prepared and organized military family. However, it can also be very exciting and fun: new food, new cultures and new places to explore! CIAO, the Community Integration of Aviano Organization, is here to ensure that you can focus on the exciting and fun parts.
I had the pleasure of speaking with CIAO President Vanessa Slagle and CIAO member Jesse F. Ilao, SrA, USAF all about CIAO and its involvement with the Aviano community.
“CIAO finds [a] way to be able to connect you to a community and to feel a part of something.”
— Jesse F. Ilao
CIAO is the result of the rebranding of the former spouses’ club of Aviano. Rather than simply offering support and comradery to the spouse community, CIAO is an inclusive and diverse organization consisting of service members, retirees and DOD workers and their families. One of their ultimate goals is to bring up the morale on base and they achieve this by hosting a combination of social and service events, both on and off base, to help the people living there integrate with the community.
Their largest fundraiser every year is the Bella Befana Bazaar in the fall. This event features local vendors who can get their merchandise out to the American military community, it allows the Aviano community to shop for unique items and raises enough money to support CIAO’s charitable endeavors for the year. CIAO also oversees the on-base Thrift Store which fully funds the scholarships that CIAO provides for individuals.
CIAO also hosts social events so that the people of the Aviano Air Base can get to know the community and what CIAO is all about. The most recent? An off-base ice cream sundae social that introduced the community to some off-base “things to do” without the worry of not speaking Italian, plus it provided them with free ice cream. Who doesn’t want free ice cream in Italy?
Sundae Sunday Ice Cream Social (CIAO)
They also have “members bonus events” as a way to give back to their members. They recently partnered with the on-base La Bella Vista Club for a “paint-and-sip” event where five members received free entry.
One phrase kept coming up whenever Jesse spoke about the organization: “CIAO has that.”
If you “have a child that needs a scholarship? CIAO has that.”
If you “have an organization that has a holiday party around the corner? CIAO has that.”
If you want to create an event and have family members, kids and fellow airmen attend? “CIAO has that.”
“Cookie drive?” You guessed it, “CIAO has that.”
“No matter what you are: a single airman, a married one, a civilian on base, CIAO has so many different aspects that it’s able to either have an impact [that] you can be part of, or it can help you with finding that community. Whatever you want, there is something in CIAO for you.”
— Jesse F. Ilao
To learn more about membership opportunities, community events and/or volunteering options, you can go to the CIAO Facebook page here or email them at ciaoavianoab@gmail.com.
Man and woman sitting at a table playing BINGO (CIAO)
You can also watch the video and hear the amazing things that CIAO President Vanessa Slagle had to say.
