By Ken Johnson, Staff Writer

The sisters of Sigma Alpha brought a night of retro game shows and laughs to collect money for their philanthropy.

The sorority put on a University of New Hampshire version of “The Dating Game” and “The Newlywed Game” with a new twist to it.

The evening was Sigma Alpha’s fall philanthropy event, raising money for the national Sigma Alpha philanthropy, Heifer International.

Heifer International is an organization that works to end world hunger by buying farm animals for people in need in developing nations.

The animals provide food and income for the people who they are given to.

“And they teach those families how to live sustainably off of those [animals],” Kristen Mason, treasurer of Sigma Alpha, said.

“They don’t just give them [animals]; they also teach them how to live sustainably and off of it,” Taisha Pelkey, standards chair for Sigma Alpha, said.

Tickets to watch the two game shows were $5.

“All the money from the tickets goes as a direct donation,” Mason said.

The two hosts of the evening were Scott Cavanaugh and Cam Calato, who are both in Improv Anonymous.

“Scott did it last year with somebody else, and it was phenomenal, so we asked them to come back again,” Pelkey said.

The first game show of the night was “The Dating Game,” where a bachelor or bachelorette, depending on which round it was, had to pick from three to four contestants by the answers to various questions asked.

“It is based off the old TV show,” Mason said.

After two rounds of “The Dating Game,” the evening was broken up with several rounds of a new take on “The Newlywed Game,” where couples, roommates and bigs and littles had to pick out what their paired partner said before the game. 

“And this year we have a new snippet where in between each round, we have a Newlywed Game. So we have a pair, whether it’s a big/little match-up, roommates or an actual couple who have been together,” Mason said. “We are really excited to add that new bit in.”

“[I am] really happy with how [tonight] went. I think we raised some good money and got some good laughs,” Jess Manuel, philanthropy chair for Sigma Alpha, said.

The amount of money raised from the event for Heifer International is not known yet.

“We just want to thank the Greek community and other organizations at UNH and everyone who came out to support us tonight, because it means a lot to us, and we are really thankful to have that support,” Mason said.