Rhodes, Baritelle to receive Youth Community Service Awards

Published 10:30 am Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Two avid teen volunteers who both happen to be on this year’s Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty court are set to be among the first youth winners for the 2026 Clallam County Community Service Awards.

Emma Rhodes, 16, and Brayden Baritelle, 15, both Olympic Peninsula Academy students in Sequim, were chosen as two of the three youths to receive the new award for volunteers ages 12-21.

The reception for 2026’s honorees is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St., Port Angeles.

The 46th annual awards – presented by the Peninsula Daily News, the Soroptimist International of Port Angeles-Noon Club, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula – recognize volunteers who have made significant contributions to the community.

Rhodes, nominated by her mom Michelle, and Baritelle by Stephen Rosales, received multiple letters of support from various community leaders and dignitaries, and shared their many activities supporting the Sequim community.

Beginning to help

Rhodes said she got her start volunteering during a Sequim Irrigation Festival board of directors meeting at age 8.

“I was just supposed to be a tag-along child where she just left me in the room and I would be quiet, but I actually got more into the meeting and I started talking with the adults and sharing my ideas about it and that’s what snowballed into what I’m doing now,” she said.

She started helping her mom, now the festival’s volunteer executive director, with the annual button design and sales campaign with local children, and her volunteerism has blossomed into helping with many facets of the festival. Her official title now is Pins and Buttons Director.

Baritelle said he remembers first volunteering in second grade helping run a hot chocolate booth for Cub Scouts during Hometown Holidays in downtown Sequim when Santa Claus rides into town on an antique fire truck.

In fifth grade, he was informed about volunteering at the Sequim Food Bank, which he’s continued to do for years.

“I became the youngest person to ever receive the Junior Volunteer of the Year Award at the age of 13, and now I am the Junior Lead at the food bank on Saturdays,” he said.

Baritelle leads 15-20 students per Saturday signing them in and assigning duties.

Continuing to support

Both the teens have a laundry list of community groups they have and continue to support, such as Rhodes with the YMCA, Baritelle through scouts, and both with the Irrigation Festival.

Rhodes said her favorite part of volunteering has been interacting with children.

One moment that stands out to her is when a girl thanked her while walking in downtown Sequim for helping with swim lessons through the YMCA’s swim league.

“She ran up to me, and she said, ‘thank you, you made my vacation a lot nicer,’” Rhodes said.

“She didn’t know how to swim before, so she was trying to learn how for a vacation.”

Rhodes said she’s been thanked by parents before, but the girl thanking her meant a lot.

“That took bravery and that took so much compassion for a person, and that’s what I love about it,” she said.

Baritelle said during the summer of his seventh grade he was thanked by an older teen who recognized him from volunteering at the food bank and giving a lot of thumbs-up to visitors.

“He told me I made his summer a lot better because of what I do at the food bank and that was one of the best moments of my life,” he said.

Show by example

Baritelle and Rhodes said they were shown by example volunteerism and weren’t told to do specific things.

“I had never been told to go and volunteer for anything,” he said. “I just watched the people around me, the people I’m close to, do things like that and that made me want to do it as well.”

“For me, it was very similar,” Rhodes said. “My mom never forced me to do any volunteering. She never said, ‘you have to.’ She said, ‘you can if you want to,’ and those words are still with me today because she never forced, she never bribed, she never did any of that.

“She said, ‘if you want to, this is your way to help people,’ and that’s what I love about it.”

With Rhodes a sophomore and Baritelle a freshman, both shared the sentiment that they’re anticipating helping more people through high school and the royalty court.

This summer they’ll participate in 15 parades as festival royalty representing Sequim.

Rhodes plans to attend Peninsula College’s Running Start program next year while continuing to work as a lifeguard and swim instructor at the YMCA. She intends to study human biology or chemistry at the University of Victoria or University of Washington while pursuing a career in the medical field.

Baritelle will continue volunteering at the food bank and attending Sequim High School with plans to attend Washington State University to study finance.