“Men for others.”
It’s a term printed on hundreds of pieces of Rockhurst merchandise, displayed throughout the halls and shown in fine print on every student’s demerit card. While this message is told to students time and time again, how many students really live out this message?
Rising senior Kai Somasegaren is doing his part in being a man for others. In December, Somasegaren and his younger brother, Berke, founded their own business, Ad Astra Roasting KC LLC, a coffee roasting company that sends all profits to the Veterans Community Project (VCP).
VCP is a nonprofit that began in Kansas City which provides tiny houses for homeless veterans. Located in six cities in five states, VCP helps veterans all across the country “regardless of discharge status or type of service.” The veterans are chosen for the tiny homes based on their respective vulnerability and need. They can be selected after an interview and background check. There are currently 49 homes at the Kansas City VCP Village near 89th and Troost.
The organization caught the eye of the brothers well before their coffee business came to life. VCP was chosen as one of the nonprofit agencies to benefit from Mission Week last school year. A representative from the project came to explain what Rockhurst students would be donating to.
“I was inspired by their talk,” Somasegaren said. “I wanted to figure out what I could do to help.”
While the profits from their coffee roasting business go to VCP, people beyond Kansas City are helped by the brothers.
“All the money that goes into buying each bag of coffee goes directly to the farmers, and it doesn’t go through some process to get them to where they’re getting limited profit,” Somasegaren said.
Ad Astra uses beans from farmers in South America, Central America and Africa, something the brothers credit with giving their product an authentic and better taste.
When Somasegaren and his brother began their roasting company in December of 2023, they started with a bit of a leg up on any competition, because they still possessed old coffee roasting supplies their father had bought out of boredom during the Covid-19 pandemic. That allows them to roast the beans in their very own home.
At the beginning of their project, they exclusively sold their Ad Astra coffee online. They would roast small batches of beans, and post how much was available on their Instagram and Facebook pages. People could then reach out to them if they were interested in buying them.
As the effort progressed, however, Ad Astra coffee has been made available in certain stores in the Kansas City area. The first store their beans were available in was The Barbette, a barber shop on Fifth Street. More recently, their beans have been made available in Shop Local KC, another local business located in the Brookside area. Somasegaren hopes, and plans, to have more local businesses carry their beans in the future.
Somasegaren’s goal is to raise a total of $10,000 to donate to VCP.
“Ten thousand dollars is enough to kind of help support the veteran in their tiny home and, like, all the upkeep that a tiny house needs.”
About a month into their venture, they were already able to send VCP a check for $1,000. In early April, the brothers sent out their next check for $3,000. While they’re well on their way to achieving their goal of $10,000, their efforts won’t stop there.
“Ten thousand dollars isn’t the end all be all. Like, no, when we make it to $10,000 we’ll keep going,” Somasegaren said. “Yeah, I think that’s the plan. We’re gonna keep going, and keep trying to raise money for Veterans Community Project.”
With Somasegaren’s senior year of high school now on the horizon, he knows his time left in Kansas City is limited. In a little more than a year, he will be off to college, more than likely not close enough to home to continue the upkeep of Ad Astra. However, Somasegaren doesn’t plan on letting the business go.
“I’ll probably pass the torch on to my brother a little more,” said Somasegaren. “I might be more on the social media side of it once I am in college.”
As Somasegaran already knows, and all Rockhurst students come to learn, the work to be a “man for others” doesn’t end when you leave high school.
