Missouri Mines Triangle Chapter Hosts Charity Chili Dinner By Joe Gordon on 2/11/10, The Missouri Miner On Thursday, February 4th, the Triangle Fraternity hosted their first ever Chili Benefit Dinner, at their fraternity house located on 807 North State Street. The benefit dinner was for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with diners charged a five dollar fee for an all-you-can-eat chili buffet. Chiefly organized by fraternity members Matthew Paradeis, Austin Revell, and Harley Wilkinson, the dinner successfully drew in a crowd from 5 to 8 pm. The chili was cooked by the fraternity's own chef, Don Casteel. The dinner was held in the fraternity's basement, where a table was set up to collect the entry fee. Triangle's goal was to raise at least 2,000 dollars for the Haiti relief effort. After paying, diners went through the buffet line to partake of the different types of chili on display. Regular chili sat alongside spicy, white, and veggie chili. Cornbread and crackers were available as sides, and lemonade and tea were provided for beverages. Several tables filled the room to account for the number of students coming to be a part of the feast; the tables quickly filled up as more people packed in. The idea for the dinner came up as the members of Triangle Fraternity were trying to think of a way to get involved with the relief effort for Haiti. "What could we do?" asked Matt Paradeis. The answer, of course, was chili. It was decided that the proceeds from the dinner would be turned over to the Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund. Food supplies, cups and other items were donated by various sources such as Kroger, McDonald's and Country Mart. The Triangle house has been around since the 1800's, while the Rolla chapter itself was founded December 10th, 1927. The organization is the only one in the North American Interfraternity Conference to limit its members to those in engineering and science, making it unique nationally. Prominent alumni of the fraternity include Steven L. Miller (University of Illinois '64), former president and CEO of Shell Oil, and Michael Morhaime (UCLA '85), president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. The success of the chili can be attributed to Don Casteel. While he's been the Triangle's chef for three years, he has been cooking for 40. A retired postmaster, Mr. Casteel has experience in the Army as a field cook, spending 23 years in the regular Army and four in the Marines, and has supported troops in the Vietnam War in this role. When asked what the best part of the cooking experience was, Casteel said it was the approval and recognition from those that consume the chef's food that is the most rewarding. The Triangle fraternity has made a good impression on him; "These boys are good," said Casteel. Though he had attended a few schools on the culinary arts, he has largely learned through trial and error, rarely using recipes and utilizing taste tests. "If you're gonna cook, cook," said Casteel. "It's better to focus entirely on what you're making than to try and multitask." The chili dinner is just one of many ways that MS&T is attempting to aid Haiti, and the brothers of Triangle have shown that with willingness to organize and put in some effort, good things can happen for the benefit of the global community RIT Chapter Participates in Annual Bed Push On Saturday, May 1st, RIT Chapter of Triangle hosted their annual Bed Push which raises financial assistance for the American Diabetes Association. Triangle brothers pushed a bed for 8 hours and 23 miles to raise over 800 dollars for the cause. This was the 6th annual RIT bed push.