It was part carnival, part gift grab, part revival meeting.

In a hardscrabble neighborhood in south Sacramento on Saturday, more than 1,000 people gathered to be a part of it.

The biggest draw at the "Back to School Community Day," sponsored by Lord's Gym and Kohl's department stores, was free backpacks filled with school supplies. But the decidedly youthful crowd got more than notebooks, rulers and crayons.

They got entertainment and religion, too.

It was all part of an effort by Lord's, a national group that teaches both spiritual and physical fitness, to rally around a community that needs help more than ever, said director Paul Gottlieb.

"It's tough times," said Gottlieb, who runs the south-side gym with his wife, Shekina. "Gas prices are up. Property values are down. Jobs are hard to come by. We thought, 'What can we do to have an impact?' "

"Things have always been tough in this neighborhood," said Gottlieb, whose group regularly passes out food, diapers and other supplies in the area. "Families are having an even harder time now."

Participants in Saturday's event seemed to appreciate the gesture.

Outside the gym, children got their faces painted, transforming them into Spidermen and Hello Kitties. A puppet show entertained the tiniest guests. Hot dogs and sodas and snow cones kept hunger and thirst at bay.

Once it was time to go inside, a line snaked around the building.

"I want my kids to be successful," said Louis Kimber, standing in the heat with his children, ShaBreon, 8, Omarre, 5, and Jalana, 1. "I appreciate the school supplies, because some parents really can't afford them right now."

The crowd scampered inside, and soon the gym floor, covered in a blue tarp, was packed shoulder to shoulder. Gottlieb created a frenzy when he started tossing out Lord's Gym shirts. Then he turned the floor over to Radical Reality, a team of athletes who deliver messages of self-esteem to youths all over the country.

The burly men preached "good clean fun," sans alcohol and drugs, and wowed the audience by ripping phone books in half, shattering a stack of concrete blocks with bare hands and bending steel bars as though they were paper clips.

Radical Reality founder Donnie Moore advised his young charges to "Let Jesus be your backpack," and then led the group in prayer.

Finally, it was time for the youngsters to score the coveted packs, passed out by an army of volunteers. The kids unzipped them and discovered calculators, computer software and other goodies. They left the building with wide smiles, and a promise from Gottlieb that they could come back later in the day to roller-skate for free.

"I loved it," said Andrea Colburn, who came to the event with her children Qiana, 7, and Noah, 5. "We had a lot of fun, and so many of these parents are so grateful for the school supplies." Qiana and Noah were also thankful for the trio of stuffed animals they got to take home.

Tiana Charles, who used to roller-skate at the gym when she was a child, brought her two youngsters to her old stamping grounds Saturday.

"The whole thing was just nice for the little ones," said Charles, who came with sons Trey, 10, and Tavian, 4. "It was an education for them."

Educational and, hopefully, inspirational, said Gottlieb.

"This gym is not just about playing basketball," he said. "We want these kids to be champions off the court, in life. That's our goal."

Call The Bee's Cynthia Hubert, (916)321-1082.