Aventura Marketing Council Chairman’s Roundtable members were recently invited to meet NFL and NBA sports celebrities and learn about how they’re helping others during a luncheon hosted by Flamma Brazilian Steakhouse Churrascaria at the Intracoastal Mall in North Miami Beach.

AMC Chair Cliff Schulman of Weiss, Serota, Helfman helped greet business and community leaders and expressed appreciation to Stern Boom Media, the Miami Dolphins, Sun Life Stadium and Floyd Sports Marketing for arranging the special appearance of athletes including: Henri Crockett, Zack Crockett, O.J. Santiago, Greg Camarillo, Dwayne White, Marvin Jones, Demetrius Fugate, George McCloud and Roy Barker.

Flamma co-owners Gustavo Aires and Joao Lage graciously welcomed guests discovering the “newest waterfront dining experience,” where docking is available and friendly servers clad in Gaucho attire are always loading plates with a continuous course of finely seasoned meats.

In the grand tradition of churrasco, Flamma features an exceptionally priced “all-you-can-eat” lavish presentation of grilled specialties; the “Bar Sabor” (Bar of Flavor) displaying a vast array of homemade Brazilian dishes; a sizable wine cellar; a fabulous Sunday brunch menu; and entertaining live music.

From the “joy of Brazilian dining and hospitality” the topic turned to the great rewards of giving back as sports celebrities spoke about their commitment to helping young people reach their full potential; and providing assistance to former athletes to help ensure “win-win” success.

Speaking about The Crockett Foundation, dedicated to “inspiring today’s youth,” former NFL stars Henri Crockett, Zack Crockett and O.J. Santiago explained the South Florida based non-profit organization is committed to improving quality of life and building strong communities through various educational, mentoring and tutorial programs.

“We started with 26 kids when they were about seven or eight years old and stuck with them all the way until 16 graduated from college,” Henri Crockett said. “We’ve also gotten involved with reading literacy, child obesity and healthcare initiatives.”

The importance of education was also emphasized by Miami Dolphins wide receiver Greg Camarillo, who spoke about his work with the Athletes for Education Foundation (AFE) – providing opportunities for professional athletes, entertainers and local leaders to develop programs helping them realize their dreams of giving back to their communities.

“If kids can find a way to do well in high school, get into college and get a degree – they can better their lives and futures,” Camarillo said. “We’re already implementing tier-down mentoring and tutoring programs so kids can see, first-hand, students who have ‘made it’ – and hopefully it will encourage them to be successful as well.”

NFL Players Association president Dwayne White and NFL alumni Marvin Jones spoke about the NFLPA’s mission to help current players make the transition to being former players and encourage involvement in community outreach programs. “We’re seeking to partner with various companies – or if you need players for an event we can help arrange that,” White said.

NBAalumni Eric Williams expressed his support for an all-star basketball camp for youths coming to the Michael-Ann Russell JCC. Chris Moltmann, head of the MARJCC’s athletic department, noted participants will include NBA greats Ken Anderson, Tim Hardaway and Glen Rice. Summing up the sentiments of all the allstar athletes, Zack Crockett said, “We’re big on ‘character’ – building up kids to be good leaders. We want to be pillars of the community, passing the torch so kids look up to us and say, ‘Those are the guys who made it and that’s the light I want to follow.’”

Flamma Brazilian Steakhouse Churrascaria is located in the Intracoastal Mall at 3913 NE 163rd Street, for more information or reservations, phone: 305- 957-9900

Now that hurricane season is upon us, everyone has to be prepared for the possibility of evacuation orders being issued.

Although we should all stock up on supplies – if a dangerous storm is headed this way, the good news is it could be the perfect time to take an “evacuation vacation!”

*If you choose Las Vegas, maybe you could join the betting pool laying odds on just how many named storms there will be this season!

*California is always nice to visit as long as Murphy’s law doesn’t shake up your evacuation vacation with an earthquake or out of control brush fire.

*An affordable evacuation vacation to an Orlando theme park is always an option – just remember the old saying “you can run – but you can’t hide” when an unpredictable storm decides to follow you to Cinderella’s Castle (don’t think it has hurricane shutters).

*A lot of evacuation vacations may require booking flights – but before boarding the airplane, double-check with the airline to make sure none of the passengers have H1N1.

*Other great evacuation vacation ideas include a second honeymoon in Mexico (bring bottled water from your hurricane supplies to avoid Montezuma’s revenge); a diving excursion (don’t get too close to any stingrays); an African safari (check to see if your cans of “Off” protect against malaria); or a single’s sojourn to Club Med (not everyone you meet at least 10 years younger will be a gold digger or gigolo!)

Since living in Aventura is like being on a year-round vacation, odds are voluntary evacuations won’t be too prevalent – but the only good news about an active hurricane season is now you have a great excuse for getting that new plasma TV you wanted to watch all the weather reports following trouble in the tropics!