After the Embrace Girls Foundations honored famed attorney, Robert Zarco, with one of their signature tea parties earlier this year, the founding partner of the Zarco, Einhorn, Salkowski, PA law firm invited more than two dozen Embrace members to a special lunch at his palatial Miami Beach home.
Photo Credit: The Embrace Girls Foundation, Inc.
“After the wonderful tea that the Embrace girls gave me several months ago, I decided I needed to show my appreciation to them for having invited me,” said Mr. Zarco. “I’m an amateur chef who happens to know what I’m doing. So, I opened my home to them to have lunch with me, and I actually cooked the meal myself.”
Founded in 2020 by Miami native, Velma Lawrence, the Embrace Girls Foundation Inc. is a Florida based non-profit that provides uplifting, girl-centric programming for hundreds of girls in several public and private elementary and middle schools throughout South Florida.
In October the organization was featured on an internationally televised segment of the NBC syndicated Harlem Globetrotters “Play It Forward” show after hosting one of their signature Tea Parties for the world-famous basketball team.
“Our Tea’s are designed to showcase the girls social, communication and etiquette skills,” said Lawrence. Former tea party guests have included national and local dignitaries, celebrities, professional athletes and social media influencers.
Mr. Zarco pledged to cook lunch for the group at his home, an 18,500 square foot mansion with 13 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms.
Photo Credit: The Embrace Girls Foundation, Inc.
Located on the Biscayne Bay side of Miami Beach, it was designed by architect Ramon Pacheco and features a 200-foot-long seawall along which Mr. Zarco moors his boats.
Mr. Zarco cooked the lunch of fried rice, filet mignon, shrimp, chicken, vegetables, and hot dogs on a customized Japanese teppanyaki grill located on the ground floor of a two story, 2,000-square-foot building constructed especially for it – next to the authentic Italian pizza kitchen, which is next to the Argentinian rotisserie woodfired grill and gas-powered barbecues. The room also holds refrigerators, icemakers and a large bathroom.
With 24 people seated grill-side and many more at side tables, the light rainfall outside had no effect on the celebratory spirit of the afternoon.
“His house is elegant, but what I liked the most about being there was that he inspired us,” said nine-year-old Jasmine Amaya. “He didn’t just cook for us. He gave us good advice. He actually talked to us, paid attention to us and listened to us.”
Luna Covar, also nine years old, who, like Jasmine, is a fourth-grader at Arcola Lakes Elementary school, said Mr. Zarco advised the girls to “hang around with people who will be a good example for you and have a good effect on you.”
Photo Credit: The Embrace Girls Foundation, Inc.
Ten-year-old Embrace member, Shaniah Ashley, said Mr. Zarco was another of the amazing people she has met since joining the group two years ago. “He believes he can help the world and told us we can help the world too,” she said.
“Through Embrace, I’ve met a lot of people who are important in today’s world,” she added. “I am glad to have met them because they can give you some idea of what you want to do with your life when you get older.”
Mr. Zarco, who once hosted the entire 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins football team for dinner at his home, said he “held food court” as he spoke with his young audience as they watched him prepare their meal. He also presented the organization with a $5,000 check for the Foundation from his law firm and pledged more to come.
“For people who have the financial good fortune, who have been blessed in their careers, there is no better feeling than being able to help those less fortunate than us,” Zarco said. “When you let them know the obstacles we’ve encountered and overcome in life, you hopefully give them inspiration and motivation and the hope that they can realize their dreams as well.
“That’s the reason why, although many people think that exposing young kids to a lifestyle like mine is inappropriate, I disagree,” he said. “It is not only appropriate, but actually necessary to send the message to children that no matter your economic status, you should reach for the stars, live the dream. If I could do it, where I was at their same level, they could do it. And that was my repeated theme: you can do what I did.”
Lawrence agreed. “Meeting successful people like Mr. Zarco can set the tone for how these young women see their futures,” she said. “That’s why, through Embrace, they’ve had teas with mayors, scholars, and celebrities, and had lunch in the Governor’s office. Mr. Zarco exemplifies success in his field. For him to not only take time away from his busy practice but to also share his home and and personally engage with our girls the way he did, well that is just priceless.”
For more information about Embrace Girls programs or to donate, call 877-466-4769, or go to the website, www.embracegirlpower.org.
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