Sometimes there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.

Chemotherapy sometimes made Nancy Conrad feel overwhelmed, depressed and alone.

Then  a friend handed her an album filled with inspirational thoughts like the one above, and photographs of beaches, mountains and flowers. Conrad, a breast cancer survivor from Crystal Lake, said the album made her realize, ““You have to live life to the fullest every day.”

More than 500 cancer patients received the same gift from a non-profit organization called Albums of Hope, the winner of TribLocal’s Charity of Choice contest. Albums of Hope will receive $500 to further its mission.

The group delivers the albums to local cancer treatment centers, and pays for them through fundraisers and private donations.

“We want to focus on the mission of lifting spirits during difficult times,” said the organization’s founder, Laura Townsend, 44, of McHenry.

Townsend found strength during her own difficult times by working on the project. Townsend’s husband, Brad Townsend, died of cancer at age 45 last April.

“Albums of Hope helped me manage my anger at the disease,” Townsend said. “He died so young. We were each others’ best friends.”

Albums of Hope, she said, helped her to believe that “something good came out of the illness.”

Her husband was diagnosed with colon cancer in September of 2008.  The couple kept a  positive attitude,  and Townsend wondered what she could do to help her husband and other people he saw every week during chemotherapy.

As a consultant for Creative Memories, Townsend got an idea.  She asked her family and friends if they’d donate money and help create  4×3 inch albums with photos and inspirational sayings. They agreed, and each brought scenic photos of flowers, mountains and the beach. Townsend brought photos from spring vacations she spent with her husband in Door County, Wis.

“We felt really happy and comforted and warmed doing something that would bring smiles to other people,” Townsend recalled.

She kept the project a secret from her husband. One day he told her he received an album of pictures and quotes when he was at treatment at North Shore Oncology in Crystal Lake. He suggested she might want to help the folks who spearheaded the project.

“I told him it was me and he was flabbergasted,” she said.

From then on, he helped as much as he could to continue the project.

Albums of Hope also delivers books to the Wellness Center in Palatine.

“We got such a good response. Nurses at the treatment centers said everyone loved them,” Townsend said.

She has also received notes on Facebook and emails about the Albums of Hope.

“Thank you, Albums of Hope,” one woman wrote on the organization’s Facebook page. ” My mom endured chemo treatments for 15 months before losing her battle. Every day she had the album at her bedside and it brought a smile to her heart. Thank you for providing these tokens of encouragement to cancer patients.”

Conrad said she continues to look through the album, especially when she thinks about the trials of chemotherapy.

“Those little acts of kindness mean so much,” said Conrad, who is in remission now. “You have to remember to cherish each day, that each day is a gift.”

Albums of Hope has held a fundraiser recently and will continue to look for ways to raise money to pay for the albums. Townsend also has created a few samples of albums for children and wants to do the same for caregivers.

“If someone had given me such an album (during her husband’s illness), it would have meant the world to me,” she said.

For more information on Albums of Hope, call 815-363-3624   or go to albumsofhope.com.