SACRAMENTO — On the first morning of 2018, when most kids would be sleeping in or watching TV, dozens of Sacramento Boy Scouts were collecting blankets for the homeless.

“We contribute our time to do stuff with our resources to give them that need the help,” Boy Scout Zakary Koeller said.

The blanket donations were accepted outside the Suzie Burger on P and 29th streets. Inside was a full staff, working furiously to prepare a thousand meals to serve. For the fifth New Year’s Day in a row, the restaurant offered a burger, fries and a drink for the first thousand customers.

They say it’s all about giving back to the community they serve all year.

“It started off as something we did when we first opened as a reason to bring people to our business 10 years ago. Then we kind of moved on past it. Now it’s not about the sales, it’s about the community and helping out,” Suzie General Manager Brian Spence said.

The restaurant partnered with the Boy Scouts and Loaves and Fishes. The blankets donated Monday will be given to the homeless community.

“Community, community, community. It’s essential. It is everyone coming together as a neighborhood and family, of really supporting our neighbors who are not able to be indoors,” Loaves and Fishes spokesperson Janet Thomas Green said.

And even before the first burger of 2018 was served, they were already halfway to their goal.