Recently my brother-in-law traded his acreage in Idaho for shares in a developing nuclear energy plant. While it could take a decade for approvals and construction, it eventually could bring alternative power to Idaho, California and Nevada.

Admiring his pioneer chutzpah, I sought like-minded Islanders — ordinary people or groups with big dreams.

Such a local group of 30 to 40 people call themselves “The Strivers.” They pursue happiness and informed health choices via lectures and workshops.

There’s nothing precise about their methods. For 13 years, they’ve met every two to four weeks — “whenever we can schedule an expert,” says John Rose, its programmer. Meetings last however long it takes, gathering wherever there’s space — the library, fire station or CCMV Dues are $5 a year.

They’ve put on health fairs, attended their own one-week health camp, learned Tai Chi and yoga, walked at Crystal Mountain, worked a pea-patch with teens from Crest Learning Center, and danced with Paul Barlin. They’ve learned from experts how to improve their memories and nutrition, set goals and measure their achievements.

“From the longest study on aging done by Warner Schaie of Penn State University, I learned it’s good to marry someone smarter than you!” says Rose.

Their formulas must be working, as they have several members in their 90s, and even one centenarian — Irene Fleming.

Another such group showed up on the street curb this week near the post office. Mercer Island Covenant Church volunteers were handing out free sheets of $.02 stamps when the price of postage went up to $.41. The line was long, so the stamp handout rallied to make life easier for busy postal customers.

Jeff Palmberg, pastor of student ministries, says it was fun to see people’s reactions to “making their day. Many smiled or hugged us — just for $.40 worth of stamps!” Some MICC parents excused their kids from school so they could participate as well.

Pastor Greg Asimakoupoulos explains the stamp handout as “one of our church’s practical ways to be a blessing to our community.” He says more “random acts of kindness” are coming in the “Help Is Here” initiative about to launch. It will include litter clean-up, child care for parents who need a break and other spontaneous service projects.

Unstoppable individual dreamers are Jan Lind-Sherman, Harriett Morton and Suzanne Philen.

Jan Lind’s biggest dream in the 1980s — as the Reporter’s circulation manager and single mom — was to raise her three kids. That was before she hit the lottery jackpot in 1993 and became an overnight multi-millionaire. She married Vaughn Sherman and remained a working woman, teaching third grade at Martin Luther King Elementary School. Here, Lind-Sherman created a Dream Foundation to send her students to college.

She has since awarded scores of scholarships to low-income kids and provided learning equipment to the school from her windfall. Now retired, she continues to work for the foundation. Her husband, Vaughn, also donates generously to Edmonds Community College causes.

Islander Harriett Morton recently won a 2007 Jefferson Award, sponsored by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, for what began as her after-school tutoring sessions in 1997, and grew into the “Invest in Youth” program. It now has 80 volunteers who help 90 third- through fifth-grade students each week at four Seattle elementary schools.

Morton began by stopping at a Seattle school to assist students on her way home from work downtown. She parlayed her efforts into an organization that now has a 12-member board of directors and two part-time staffers.

Suzanne Philen came to manage Mercer Island Thrift Shop from the retail world seven years ago. While Philen says she’s just “a blip on the 31-year continuum of the shop,” which makes money for youth and family services, she has more than doubled the annual proceeds from about $300,000 to $700,000. However, her goal is to make more than $1 million per year for MI youth and family services.

She’s well on track based on her five-year projections. She has positioned MITS as a “destination thrift shop, where people can find a good selection for a good price and a good cause,” she says as she walks through aisles filled with furniture, antiques, kitchenware, jewelry, baby gear, toys, clothes and much more.

Her business savvy results in excess donations going to other non-profits or bulk buyers (shoes to Uganda, for example); unique items posted on eBay; extended donation hours; formal training for 65 volunteers and maximum profit per square foot of space.

The real payoff, says Philen, is that the extra income provides for two full-time counselors for Mercer Island kids with life issues — in addition to their regular school counselors. What better re-purposing of second-use goods?

Write and tell me of other Island dreamcatchers, at nancybobhilliard@msn.com.