As Ryan Rathe emptied garbage bins in Gas Works Park one day in December, he noticed something dangling below a park bench. A general laborer for the Seattle parks department, Rathe got on his hands and knees to retrieve the item — an envelope containing a piece of paper with an e-mail address, random numbers and the word "Congratulations." At first, Rathe didn't know what to think. But eventually the 31-year-old e-mailed the address on the paper, and a few days later he received $25 in the mail.