Shoe giveaway for youths is part of fitness campaign

About 500 pairs still available

Those interested can still sign up by going to set up a free SMARTlink account at any Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission community center or other staffed recreation facility. A list can be found at www.pgparks.com.

Once an account is created, registration can be completed online and one of three pick-up locations, in College Park, Landover or Fort Washington, will be selected.

All that’s needed to claim the shoes is a printed receipt and participation in a Nike survey at the pick-up site, according to the commission.

The program began June 5. About 2,000 kids have registered and will claim their new shoes on Sunday. When signing up for the Nike giveaway, kids specified their gender and shoe size, but the type of shoes they receive will be left up to chance.

Park and Planning’s Anita Pesses says that the free shoes vary in price and style, from basketball sneakers to cross-trainers.

The Nike Summer Shoes program is a key element of the National Recreation and Park Association’s ‘‘Step Up to Health Initiative.” The hope is that children will use the new shoes to get and stay active.

Pesses says that children aren’t nearly as active as they used to be, before television and video games took the place of physical activities.

She believes that ‘‘Parks and Recreation is the antidote...we want to get people off the couch.”

Prince George’s County applied to be one of 21 urban communities across the country in the Nike Summer Shoes program. Other sites include New York City, Washington and New Orleans, where the program kicked off by giving a free pair of shoes to every middle and high school student in the city — 13,000 pairs in all, worth about $1 million.

Overall, the program will dole out 60,000 pairs of athletic shoes worth about $6 million.