Cradles to Crayons Chicago's Backpack-A-Thon for kids going back-to-school

CHICAGO (CBS) — The 10,000-seat Wintrust Arena in the South Loop was buzzing with activity on Wednesday, but not because of a basketball game or concert, but rather with volunteers trying to make going back to school easier for thousands of families.

Jock Jams filled the arena for a different kind of coordinated competition as volunteers were racing to fill tens of thousands of backpacks with back-to-school supplies for Chicago students.

Cradles to Crayons organizers said it was the largest free backpack giveaway in the region. It was Cradles to Crayon's ninth Backpack-A-Thon in Chicago, but its first at Wintrust Arena.

Some 700 volunteers were barely taller than the bins they were trying to fill — students the same age as those receiving these bags.

"We're packing a lot of backpacks," said Mikkola Diop

She starts the sixth grade in less than a month, and the 11-year-old is no stranger to the search for school supplies.

"We always get a big list of what we have to buy, so we're just basically searching," Diop said.

She's here for the third year with her mom.

"She's going into sixth grade. A lot of backpacks are going to the middle schoolers. So it's important to make sure that all the children start schooling and even foot and have every opportunity to thrive," said Natalie Kissinger, Mikkola's mom.

They are filling so many of these bags, 35,000 of them, that they can fill every seat in Wintrust Arena three times over.

The bags were filled in just two hours, about one-third of the 105,000 that Cradles to Crayons will hand out around Chicago this year. In August, they'll be distributed through 60 partner organizations, including Chicago Public Schools.