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“He’s such a big Celtics fan,” Nicholas’ mother, Tatiana, said. “It would mean so much to my son. Watching Celtics games with us through his treatment last year was such a big distraction. It just got us through the year.”
“They always send us messages with some offers,” Difante said. “It gives us a chance to get out of the house. It’s a very nice organization that keeps families in touch and gives kids a lot of opportunities.”
Taking a dunk in Narragansett Bay will help raise money for a local boy who wants to see Jaylen Brown dunk in TD Garden.
Nicholas Difante is undergoing cancer treatment. To help support the 11-year-old as he fights his life-threatening disease, A Wish Come True will send Nicholas to a Boston Celtics game using money raised at its 22nd annual Freezin’ for a Reason challenge. The trip also would include dinner, a night in a hotel and the chance to meet his favorite players.
“He’s such a big Celtics fan,” Nicholas’ mother, Tatiana, said. “It would mean so much to my son. Watching Celtics games with us through his treatment last year was such a big distraction. It just got us through the year.”
The family-friendly polar plunge will start with music around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 1, at Easton’s Beach in Newport. Fifteen minutes later, at noon sharp, plungers will sprint into the icy Atlantic to raise money for Nicholas and children like him.
The minimum donation to take the dip is $25. Plungers who raise $100 will receive an official event hat and those who raise $500 will get an official hoodie.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Coventry, is led by Mary-Kate O’Leary.
“You have to go completely in,” she said. “Then you come out, dry off, and know you’ve done something really special. You started your 2026 year off fresh with a dive in the ocean and you’re ready to go make it a great year.”
The 2025 plunge helped raise $80,000 for A Wish Come True last year.
O’Leary said about 5,000 people usually show up for the event, which includes both plungers in the water and spectators on the beach. O’Leary called it “an amazing day full of hope and inspiration.”
“When the community comes together to participate, it shows our wish families they are supported, loved and never alone during this difficult time,” she said.
O’Leary said Difante was referred to A Wish Come True by the Tomorrow Fund, a charity that assists cancer patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence. Difante said her family is “very grateful” for both organizations.
“My son recently relapsed,” she said, “and he needs his wish more than ever now to come true.”
A Wish Come True, founded in 1982, grants about 35 wishes a year. Difante, however, said they do more than just grant wishes. She also is impressed with how much O’Leary’s organization kept in touch with her family as Nicholas was being treated at Hasbro and Boston Children’s Hospital.
“They always send us messages with some offers,” Difante said. “It gives us a chance to get out of the house. It’s a very nice organization that keeps families in touch and gives kids a lot of opportunities.”
Nicholas is not the first Jamestown boy who has been granted a wish by O’Leary and her team. Last year, Lars Reiff, who had experienced a hemorrhagic stroke and brain bleed, was sent to the Marriott Grande Lakes resort in Orlando to enjoy its lazy river. O’Leary said Lars is doing better; his family has organized a team to plunge next week and support the next round of beneficiaries.
A Wish Come True, which raised around $80,000 in 2025, hopes to meet the $100,000 mark in ’26.
“This is truly going to directly support the program, and directly support local children who need a magical wish,” O’Leary said. “Nicholas is obviously one of them, but we have many more who require us to fundraise for throughout the year.”
How to donate:
Help Nicholas Difante attend a Boston Celtics game by registering to plunge at p2p.onecause.com/polarplunge.
