Carla Poke

Well known in the greater Kansas City metro area as an early childhood educator, Carla Poke was a dedicated parent, caring aunt, hard-working business owner, and someone who helped anyone she could.

When Carla passed away, her mom, Joyce McCombs, knew Carla would want to give what she could to others through donation.

“She was a child of God, and she would want to help, so if I told her now that she would help somebody else’s life, she would be smiling down from heaven,” Joyce said.

Carla’s children were young when she passed, and some of them struggled at the time with her donation.

“I was eight years old, and I already lost her; I didn’t like anything else being taken,” Carla’s daughter Chelsey Poke said. “Now, being older, and having friends and family members who’ve gone through organ donation, it makes me feel like she’s still living on and helping others, so that makes me happy — especially with my grandpa needing a transplant. It comes full circle.”

Chelsey and her family hope her grandfather will receive a kidney transplant soon. They support donation, having multiple connections to it.

“By being a donor, we’re helping someone else in need,” Carla’s daughter Nashea Moore said. “It makes a difference, and it can save a life.”