A crowd gathered Thursday night outside Chima Brazilian Steakhouse in Fort Lauderdale, but it wasn't a mob of people waiting to get inside. Instead, the group of nearly 100 stood in the courtyard of the upscale restaurant for a meet-and-greet with actress Cheryl Hines, the special guest host of Friday's inaugural Stephen B. Goldstein TCP Golf Tournament & Auction at the Miami Shores Country Club.

The charity event, named in memory of the late Stephen B. Goldstein, was created to raise money for pancreatic research at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine. Goldstein died of pancreatitis, the inflammation of the pancreas.

Hines, best known for her role as "Seinfeld" creator Larry David's wife in the HBO comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," said she got involved in the event at the request of friend and fellow thespian Jarrad Paul, Goldstein's son.

"When he told me the story of what happened and how their family had to battle pancreatitis, I wanted to get involved and come down here and show my support," said Hines, wearing a necklace slated to be auctioned off.

For Hines, it was also a chance to return to her home state.

"Just driving around, I was having flashbacks of when I lived here," she said.

The 42-year-old wife and mother, who was born in Miami Beach and raised in Tallahassee, briefly attended Florida State University before graduating from the University of Central Florida and moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. It seems to have paid off.

In 2006, Hines – once a personal assistant to "When Harry Met Sally" and "Misery" director Rob Reiner – received an Emmy nomination for her work in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." She also recently received high praise from critics in last year's "Waitress," a Sundance Film Festival selection whose writer and director, Adrienne Shelly, was murdered.

As for "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which ended its seventh season last year with Hines' character separated from David, is there any chance the Jew (David) and gentile (Hines) will reconcile?

"I hope so," said Hines. "It's all up to Larry. I don't know. I mean, I think he's working on another season."

In the meantime, Hines will be busy in South Florida promoting pancreatic awareness.

The goal of the tournament and auction, said Goldstein's widow, Janet, is to raise $50,000.

It was off to a good start Thursday night.

Before the tournament had even begun, automobile magnate Warren Henry, who is sponsoring the event, presented the Goldstein family with a check in the amount of $10,000.

The rest of the money will have to be raised at the TCP (Take Care of your Pancreas) shotgun-scramble tournament and live or silent auction. The event begins with a barbecue lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by the tournament at 1 p.m., an awards ceremony, supper by the bite, a cocktail reception and a live auction between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The silent auction begins at 11:30 a.m. and lasts until 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for the tournament are $225 per golfer while tickets to the post-tournament awards ceremony and reception are $95.

To find out more, contact Janet Goldstein by telephone at 305-389-6336 or by e-mail at janetarts@aol.com.