Virginia Polar Dip Returns To Give Reston A Good Dunking

RESTON, VA -- Reston residents open your hearts and get your bathing suits on, the Virginia Polar Dip is returning to Lake Anne Village Center Saturday, Feb. 1. This will be the 12th time in 13 years the event has chilled Restonians to the bone, while raising money for Camp Sunshine, a retreat to help families facing life-threatening illnesses.

"Camp Sunshine is an amazing place, because it's the only camp in the country for entire families," said Gail Toth, Virginia Polar Dip founder. "The parents and siblings are all affected when there's an illness like that. So, Camp Sunshine recognizes that and hosts the whole family for their sessions and the families go for free because of donations and fundraising events like ours."

Toth and her family experienced firsthand the supportive power of Camp Sunshine after their 3-year-old daughter Jennifer had finished her treatment for cancer 23 years ago.

"We went as a family up there and we just had an amazing experience being with 30 of 39 other families, because they host 40 families a week up there," she said. "Being with other families going through the same thing that we were, we decided that we needed to stay involved with them." The following summer, the Toths returned as volunteers and have continued to volunteer every year since.

Toth's daughter Jennifer is currently a pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at Georgetown Hospital. In March, she'll celebrate celebrate 24 years of being cancer free.

It was actually Jennifer who, years later, suggested they start their own Polar Dip fundraising event for Camp Sunshine after participating in a similar dip in New Jersey. Since its inception in 2008, the family has raised more than $761,000 for the camp, and Toth hopes to raise another $100,000 this year.

Participants can register in advance at www.freezinforareason.com or at Lake Anne Village Center on Saturday. Each participant must raise a minimum of $100 to take part in the dip. Participants will receive an "I DID IT" T-shirt provided they either do a full cannonball jump into Lake Anne or a "Chicken Dip."

"You can just sit down on the dock," Toth said. "We have everybody come down at once, whether it's little kids or the elderly, they all sit on the dock right before the full jumps start and they just put their toes in and they can still participate. And hundreds of people come to watch and cheer everybody else."

The annual event took a year off in 2019, because Toth's father was dealing with Alzheimer's Disease and she needed to be there to help.

This year's event returns Saturday, Feb. 1, from 12-3 p.m., with the actual plunge starting at 2 p.m., following the Chicken Dip. Because the plunge is taking place at a lake and not the ocean, people will only be able to make the jump in groups of four or five for safety's sake. The dip will take place rain or shine, but it will be rescheduled in the event of a major snowstorm.

"All the merchants at Lake Anne, there'll be activities going on over there," Toth said. "The restaurants will probably donate a portion of sales from that day to Camp Sunshine. The church over there is going to open up their sanctuary for people to go in and warm up and they're going to have crafts for children."

Sponsors for this year's Virginia Polar Dip include Kalypso’s Sports Tavern, David Madison Photography, Lake Anne Village Center, Reston Community Center, Salon Khouri, Ourisman Chantilly Toyota, Reston Association, Fairfax County Cold Water Dive Team, Manor Works Painting, Loebig Chiropractic & Rehab, and Onelife Fitness.

"It's just the sense of community and just knowing that we're helping other families in a really hard time in their life and that everybody is giving us their time and their money to do that," Toth said. "That just warms my heart. It really does."