"If you're not really fostering and taking care of the children," she said, "what's tomorrow going to be like."

Goldman, 46, and her attorney husband Matt reside in Pinecrest. They recently celebrated 24 years of marriage and have two children; daughter Annie, 19, a sophomore at the University of Florida, and Ben, 18, a senior at Palmetto High School.

Goldman was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, but came to South Florida as a baby. She grew up in Coconut Grove, attended Grove and Sunset elementary schools, Ponce de Leon Junior High and Coral Gables Senior High, graduating in 1971. She met her husband while in junior high and their childhood romance blossomed into love. They attended the University of Wisconsin together then returned to Miami to marry, start careers and begin a family.

With a journalism and marketing degree, Goldman began her career with a public relations firm. She quickly found a more suitable position as assistant promotions director for the Omni Center, which was then under construction in downtown Miami in 1977.

"It was a really great experience, I became promotions director and I was there for two years," she recalled.

Shopping Center promotion was so appealing, that Goldman decided to continue in the field. She next went to work for Alec Courtelis, who was developing a new shopping complex in South Dade called The Falls. After the center opened in 1980, she took time out from her career to start a family, then returned to work with the DeBartolo Corporation in 1985, first as marketing director for Miami International Mall and then as Regional Marketing Manager for the company. She spent 12 years with DeBartolo, at times overseeing the marketing for a dozen shopping center properties scattered around Florida's east coast, including Dadeland, Westland and the Omni.

"It was a really big job," she recalled. "With two small children growing up in the mall business, Matt was Mr. Mom many times, which was stressful."

When the Heitman Company asked her to become marketing director at The Falls, she accepted and returned to coordinate the 1996 re-opening of the property following construction that doubled the size of the complex. Two years later the Taubman Company family purchased the property.

"They asked me to stay on and in December I was promoted to General Manager," she said. "I'm better suited to this position because its more akin to being a regional, it's more big picture planning, understanding where the growth is, working with our company, leasing, determining what stores we need, where are we deficient, where we are going to go in the future."

Throughout her career, Goldman's corporate charity efforts primarily have been involved with the Children's Home Society. It was a natural extension that she continued the relationship with Florida's oldest non-profit organization for children when she returned to The Falls.

She soon found herself on the Society's board of directors and she brought her professional experience to bear, becoming chairman of the marketing committee. She convinced The Falls advertising agency ­ E & F Marc ­ to get involved, then set out to create a signature event that would identify The Falls with the Children's Home Society. Again she called on her professional knowledge and remembered working with The Avenues Shopping Center in Jacksonville and an annual event called Caring Chefs.

"I thought that this was such a natural and I wanted to do it at The Falls," she said. "It's really like centering an event in a park because The Falls is so pretty."

Goldman launched the South Florida version of the Caring Chefs for Kids fundraiser last year and it was an unqualified success. In this the second year of the event, scheduled for Sunday, April 16 from 7-10 p.m., she says she is expecting an even greater turnout.

"We get area restaurants ­ not just the ones we have in The Falls ­ to come into the Falls for just one night and present their specialty, not a full dinner, but a specialty ­ a desert, an appetizer, an entrée," she said. "We coordinate the program so that it's not all chocolate or steak."

The shopping center is closed for the evening and tickets to the event are sold to the public in advance. The event is open to children and families are encouraged to come as a group, wander around The Falls, sample the food and listen to music from three stages.

"There are just so many families in the Pinecrest, South Miami and Coral Gables areas," Goldman said. "So, we really geared the event for the family and made it easy to bring the children with a special ticket price. It's a casual evening and it's a fun experience."

Goldman says the event is taking on a life of its own, the community is getting behind it and ticket sales are going great.