SUNNYVALE — Of all the global problems Emily Moreno could have chosen to tackle, she zeroed in on the sex trafficking of young girls about her age. But really, what could a 16-year-old suburban high school sophomore do?

Volunteer to stuff survival backpacks on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, it turns out.

“It’s not just girls, it’s girls my age,” she said after inserting clothing and personal items into backpacks for girls and young women expected to be swept up by authorities during the upcoming Super Bowl week — Jan. 30 through Feb. 7 — in Silicon Valley. “What if that was me?”

There’s been a lot of debate lately about how much sex trafficking or prostitution the National Football League Championship football game will attract throughout the Bay Area before the kickoff at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The theory is that an infusion of money, tourists, fat cats and business people on expense accounts will unleash what some activists have called “the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States.” Traffickers from all over the nation and local traffickers already here are believed to gravitate toward the thousands of fans in town for the game.

Lisa Blanchard, executive director of the Grateful Garment Project, believes a sizable number of girls and boys trapped in the sex trade will be arrested or detained, enough to persuade her to organize Sunday’s backpack-stuffing event at King’s Academy school in Sunnyvale.

“We’re already a hot spot,” she said, “so when you bring in a big event like the Super Bowl, common sense tells you there will be an increase.”

Her growing, 5-year-old nonprofit group assembled two dozen or so volunteers, many of them teenage girls like Emily, to fill 165 backpacks with several items, including fleece pants and sweatshirts, underwear, socks, toiletries, flashlights and books — memoirs by people who survived the illicit trade.

Blanchard said the youths would need the clothing and items because they’re dressed “scarcely, almost naked,” when they’re picked up and interviewed by police or social workers. The clothing lets them go through the process with some dignity, she said.

How much the Super Bowl boosts the sex trade and how much involves adult prostitution or criminal abuse of minors has not been quantified by law enforcement officials or victim advocates, according to a July report by this newspaper.

But there is a consensus that the NFL game provides an opportunity to spotlight the underreported problem. Locally, about 5,000 law enforcement officials and activists gathered at Levi’s Stadium in May for an event focusing on human trafficking in the Bay Area.

Nobody knows the scope of the problem during the run-up to the game, but even critics who see exaggerated predictions have taken the opportunity to call for training of workers most likely to spot victims of trafficking. These workers include public safety, community and transportation employees, from police officers to clinic nurses and bus drivers.

Blanchard said six or seven of the local agencies likely to end up with victims requested backpacks from her group. Her Grateful Garment Project started with backpacks for rape victims who often had to give up their clothing as evidence and had to go home wearing hospital robes.

Two volunteers at Sunday’s packing, 19-year-old Emma Murphy and 16-year-old Alli Case, said the global, sexual exploitation of minors is an issue members of their generation are talking more about, even if it doesn’t exactly hit home. Both live in Saratoga.

“It’s a privilege to be able to help them,” Murphy said. “I hope these backpacks help them find their way home.”

Contact Joe Rodriguez at jrodriguez@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5767. Twitter.com/JoeRodMercury.