Square Club Events

Dr. Mathew Lee Retirement Party July 10, 2008

Dr. Mathew Lee and IASC co-founder Bob Nathan

Members of the Intimate Apparel Square Club (IASC) gathered at the Manhattan restaurant Villa Berulia on July 10 to toast Dr. Mathew Lee, who retired from The NYU Langone Medical Center after a distinguished 45-year tenure. A central figure in the IASC’s ongoing fundraising efforts for the pediatric ward at NYU’s Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Dr. Lee has long personified the caring mission of the Institute. He and his lovely wife Mary Lou have won the heartfelt admiration and affection of the IASC membership. We salute Dr. Lee on this milestone and look forward to enjoying his friendship and support for many years to come.

Artie Nathan and Dr. Mathew Lee	Mary Lou Lee
Roslyn Harte and Victor Vega	Loretta Schneider and Anita Yau

INTIMATE APPAREL SQUARE CLUB HONORS
ACE STYLE INTIMATE APPAREL INC. FOUNDERS
ANDREW AND MIMI SIA AT 2007 HUG AWARD GALA

HUG honorees Mimi Sia, Andrew Sia and Roslyn Harte

New York, NY, November 9, 2007 --- Spirits were high among attendees to the tenth annual HUG Award gala fundraiser held November 6 by the New York-based nonprofit volunteer group Intimate Apparel Square Club (IASC), to honor Andrew and Mimi Sia, respectively Corporate Director and CEO of ACE Style Intimate Apparel, Inc., and raise funds for the pediatric unit of NYU Medical Center’s Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Mr. and Mrs. Sia are the first married couple who are business partners to be awarded the HUG Award.

Luminaries from intimate apparel icons such as Wacoal, Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein, among others, mingled with retailers at the Starlight Roof of the Waldorf-Astoria to fete the Sias, who are highly regarded in the global intimate apparel industry for their charitable endeavors and support of fashion education as well as their successful international company. About 350 industry supporters of the IASC’s ongoing charitable work gathered to enjoy an elegant dinner dance that raised nearly $300,000 for Rusk Institute’s pediatric wing.

IASC president Steve Chernoff of Rago Foundations delivered welcoming remarks to the audience during the award presentation and introduced the chairman of Rusk Institute’s rehabilitation medicine department, Dr. Mathew Lee, who lauded the IASC members, not only for their financial support, but also for their commitment of personal time spent with the Institute’s pediatric patients. To dramatize the impact IASC’s fundraising has had on the lives of Rusk Institute patients, Dr. Lee recounted how a young girl was able to attend her high school prom thanks to rehabilitation she received from the Institute after having her right pelvis replaced by surgeons at NYU Medical Center. “Thank you for your spirit of giving and thank you for your spirit of caring,” said Dr. Lee.

IASC event chairperson Roslyn Harte introduced the Sias, recalling how her 11-year friendship with them began during a chance meeting with Andrew at Liberty Fabrics. The Sias received a standing ovation as they approached the podium and graciously thanked the IASC for bestowing upon them the HUG Award and allowing them to experience firsthand the rehabilitation facilities at Rusk Institute during their tour of the pediatric wing. “This is the best gift this industry has given us,” said Andrew, accepting the HUG Award.

In 1999 the IASC pledged $6 million to support programs at the pediatric wing of the Rusk Institute, a state-of-the-art facility where children with disabilities receive quality treatment by Rusk staff in a comforting and cheerful environment. To date, the Hug Award gala has raised more than $3 million for Rusk.

About ACE Style Intimate Apparel Inc.
ACE Style Intimate Apparel Inc. is one of Hong Kong’s largest world-class manufacturers of intimate apparel and bodywear with an annual output of more than 25 million garments distributed worldwide under private label for well-known retail and designer brands. Andrew and Mimi Sia founded the company in 1985 with a small factory employing 60 workers in Taikoktsui, Kowloon, China. Over the years the company grew into a vertically integrated, international corporation with production facilities in Hong Kong SAR, China, Honduras and the Philippines, and customer service and product development offices in New York, Montreal, and London. For more information visit www.acestyle.com.

About The Intimate Apparel Square Club HUG Award
The IASC was founded in1955 with the mission of uniting professionals in intimate apparel and related industries as a 5013C tax-exempt charitable organization bearing the motto “Helping Those Who Cannot Help Themselves.” The membership includes management executives, designers, and professionals who represent the full spectrum of the intimate apparel industry. Today the IASC is dedicated to supporting pediatric rehabilitation and treatment. NYU Medical Center’s Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine is the primary beneficiary of its fundraising programs. The HUG (Help Us Give) Award was created in 1998 and is presented annually to well-respected, high profile professionals at the IASC’s annual gala fundraiser. For more information, call 845-758-5752.

About The Rusk Institute
Part of NYU Medical Center, the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine has earned worldwide fame for its leadership in the treatment of physically challenged patients. It is the largest university-affiliated center devoted entirely to inpatient/outpatient care, research and training in rehabilitative medicine. The Rusk Institute provides specialized inpatient and outpatient services for adults and children with a wide variety of conditions. These programs provide individualized, integrative care and include family members when appropriate.

View photos of the Gala in the HUG Gallery.

The calendar may have said July but the spirit was all December at the Intimate Apparel Square Club’s (IASC) annual "Christmas in July" holiday party held July 25 at the Horizon House recreational room of NYU Medical Center’s Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City.

The IASC Christmas in July team members.

(View more photos and details in the HUG Gallery.)

The Hawaiian-themed gathering, jointly staged by the IASC and the rehabilitation staff members of Rusk Institute, was a festive occasion that brought smiles to the child patients of Rusk who are diagnosed with neurological, orthopedic and developmental conditions. The "Rusk Kids," who are the beneficiaries of the IASC's ongoing fundraising efforts spearheaded by their annual HUG Award gala, enjoyed tasty McDonald’s Happy Meals while sitting among cheerful tropical decorations that set the stage for a visit by IASC volunteers and the eagerly awaited arrival of a gift-bearing Santa Claus (IASC member Walter Costello of Macra Lace).

Santa cheerfully posed for pictures with the smiling children, who were entertained by upbeat holiday songs performed by musician Peter Antell and the tricks of Madison, an adorable therapy dog from Therapy Dog International. Earlier in the afternoon, Santa and his helpful Christmas elf (IASC member Lance Whitaker of The Star Group) toured the Rusk Institute’s intensive care unit with a wagon loaded with gifts to cheer up bedridden patients who could not attend the festivities in the main room.

Mathew H.M. Lee, M.D., Rusk Institute Professor and Chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, and Joan T. Gold, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, joined the Rusk staff in welcoming the IASC for this heartwarming, popular tradition. In addition to Costello and Whitaker, IASC members in attendance included Roslyn Harte, Lances Harte, Barry Ross, Barry Ross Intimate Connections, Loretta Schneider, Larrivo, Kristin Kramer, Victoria’s Secret, bra fit model Bonnie Fischer, Adam Masry, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Rosa Chamides, Madison’s Best, Norma Reinhardt, Harriet Lubash, Edgar Trinidad, Fineberg Publicity, and IASC co-founder Bob Nathan.

More photos and details in the HUG Gallery.

Visit NYU Medical Center's exhibit Rebuilding Rusk, Rebuilding Lives, a retrospective about Rusk and a prelude to the New Rusk. Everyone is welcome to view the exhibit at:

NYU Medical Center
Tisch Admitting Lobby
550 First Avenue
(enter at 32nd Street)
New York City