A leadership class at Straub Middle School has raised more than $4,600 — nearly 10 times its goal — for a 3-year-old Salem girl who is battling brain cancer.

The eighth-graders couldn’t have done it without help from the local community — and beyond. A nonprofit in Oregon City offered a matching donation of $1,000.

“The domino effect is awesome,” said Lorre Euen, the girl’s grandmother. “You should see the kids’ faces. It’s very, very touching. This is something they can take with them their whole life, and they started it.”

First came the idea for them to turn their annual Val-o-gram sale into a benefit for Mya Brandt, whose cousin, Garrin Schneider, is a seventh-grader at Straub.

The 39 students took turns selling Val-o-grams during lunchtime for a little girl they had never met but called “Pretty Princess Mya” on posters around the school. The Statesman Journal reported on the project on Feb. 12.

Then came a pledge from the Kyla McCullough Gift Fund, a nonprofit created in memory of a pediatric cancer patient from Oregon City. Board member Matt Ramage contacted Straub Principal Neil Anderson after reading about the project and pledged to match what the class raised, up to $1,000.

Ramage praised the Straub students for their initiative and their compassion and said his organization was “pleased to help Mya, recognize the students, and honor Kyla in this way.”

The Kyla McCullough Gift Fund has raised more than $160,000 to support Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Make-A-Wish, individual and family grants, Pillowcases for Patients, American Cancer Society and CaringBridge.

And finally came a challenge from the staff at Judson Middle School. Judson and Straub have several connections, including spouses who teach at each school, Judson parents who teach at Straub, and Straub teachers who previously taught at Judson.

Judson health teacher Kimo Mahi organized a benefit volleyball match between the two staffs, and it raised $1,800. His wife is Stevie Mahi, who teaches the leadership class at Straub.

clynn@StatesmanJournal .com, (503) 399-6710 or on Twitter @CapiLynn