Frank Condino and Jeff Ditch Travel to the Dominican Republic with Meeting God in Missions Program

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IUP Athletic Director Dr. Frank Condino and head baseball coach Jeff Ditch traveled to Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic, as part of Meeting God in Missions in January 2008. The group of 60 people participated in missions of Baseball, Optometry, Construction, Medical and Youth Ministry while also experiencing a Mission for God.

“For me, this experience will last a lifetime,” commented Ditch.  “I went to the Dominican Republic with the intention of helping those less fortunate, and I return with a life changing result for myself.  Specifically with baseball, it was amazing to see such a large percent of the population participating in baseball.  In the United States we claim baseball as our pastime, but to compare, I would then call baseball in the Dominican a way of life.

“I would like to thank each of the IUP athletic teams for sending donations of equipment and apparel,” said Ditch.  “We saw firsthand how much it was appreciated.  The effect of the missions in the Haitian villages of the sugar cane fields was unbelievable.”

Donations were also sent from the baseball programs at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Virginia.

The IUP baseball team will be collecting new and used eyeglasses and sunglasses for future distribution in the Dominican Republic.  Please email Jeff Ditch (jditch@iup.edu) for more information.  Also, you can see several photo galleries of the trip by visiting www.winwithclass.com.

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