NATCHEZ —St. Mary’s Basilica Healing Hand’s ministry is getting creative to help a teenager fight cancer.

Carrie Lambert is the chair of Healing Hands, an organization whose members make prayer shawls, baby blankets and other items for members of the community in need.

The organization has decided to help Berkeley Mardis, 15, of New Orleans, who has developed Sarcoma, a bone and muscle cancer.

Berkeley is the granddaughter of Regina Mardis, secretary at St. Mary’s.

Lambert said she found out about Berkeley from Regina Mardis, who is the receptionist at St. Mary’s. The Natchez resident felt inspired by Berkeley’s story, and wanted to do more to help her.

Lambert started a program called Berkeley’s Bracelets. Healing Hands members makes knitted friendship bracelets, which are sold for $5. The money goes to supporting Berkeley’s hospital bills.

“We knew how expensive it is, even with health insurance, to treat cancer,” said Lambert.

Lambert said she also plans on giving the bracelets away to children in the hospital with different cancers to trade and collect with their friends.

“The idea is this, for children to exchange bracelets. It’s part of your healing,” Lambert said.

“It’s more than your physical body and what you’re going through. It’s about emotional excitement, and something to look forward to and get excited about.”

Each cancer has a color associated with it, and the bracelets match the colors of different cancers, Lambert said.

Lambert said the regular color for the bracelets is yellow, the color associated with sarcoma.

Beads with initials and charms can also be knitted into the bracelets, at an additional cost, Lambert said.

“What our hope, once Berkeley is OK, is to expand this to other organizations,” Ruth Powers, co-chairman of Healing Hands said.

Powers was working on a yellow bracelet at Healing Hand’s meeting on the first Sunday of the month.

The group’s ambition is to see the design and the spirit of Berkeley’s bracelets spread to other churches to help other children with cancer.

“In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus made it quite plain that what separated the sheep from the goats is what you do for the ones with the most need,” Powers said. “(Helping others) is what we are supposed to do.”

Powers said she was working on selling the bracelets online so people around the world could get involved.

Even with global ambition, Lambert is able to remember the blessing she has because of Berkeley.

“Berkeley talked about how blessed she was to have so many people care about her,” Lambert said. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Here’s a child with cancer, and she’s telling me how she’s blessed.’ It puts things in perspective.”

Berkeley’s bracelets can be purchased at St. Mary Basilica office at 107 S. Union St., ordered by email from berkeleysbracelets@gmail.com or by phone with the number 601-442-5852.