Gresham Mom Named Volunteer of the Year for Tireless Service

While most presidents delegate from behind a desk, Kayla Viramontes spent her weekend slinging hot dogs at a youth baseball tournament in Gresham, Oregon.

As president of Gresham Barlow Youth Baseball/Softball's board, Viramontes doesn't just oversee. She rakes fields, repairs equipment, and works the concession stand during tournaments.

"I am a boots on the ground type of person," she said with a laugh. "You have to get in there and do whatever needs to be done."

That hands-on approach earned Viramontes the 2024 Volunteer of the Year award from the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce. She's now been named one of The Outlook's 2026 Community Heroes.

Viramontes moved to Gresham in 2015 with her husband Mike, a local Reynolds alum. She immediately dove into volunteer work, a habit formed in childhood when she'd tag along with her single mother to the nursing home where she worked nights.

"I don't remember a time when I wasn't volunteering," Viramontes said. "If I see a need to fill, I will fill it."

Her volunteer resume is impressive. She's spent 10 years on the youth baseball board, six as president, even though she didn't have kids in the league when she started. She joined because she believes in teaching life skills through sports.

Viramontes also serves on the board of Heart of the Arts, a nonprofit offering free creativity programs for kids. The timing matters as Oregon schools face budget cuts to arts programs.

In 2022, she joined Soroptimists International of Gresham and now serves as president. She chairs the beloved Teddy Bear Parade, one of Oregon's most distinctive events, which fills downtown Gresham with colorful floats and marching bands while raising scholarship funds for women.

"I had a rough childhood, and a lot of the things these women experience I faced as well," she said. "I had opportunities to get out of those situations, and I want to provide that for others."

Through her marketing business, the Bold Orange, Viramontes brings professional skills to her volunteer roles. But she never forgets the hands-on work that makes events actually happen.

The Ripple Effect

Viramontes worries that volunteerism is declining across America. Her solution is simple: lead by example and show up.

Every hot dog she grills at a tournament creates space for kids to play. Every art class she organizes gives a child creative outlet. Every scholarship awarded through the Teddy Bear Parade changes a woman's life trajectory.

"We have to find time to give back," she said. Her work shows that community leaders don't need to choose between vision and execution.

One volunteer raking one field might seem small, but Viramontes has been doing it for a decade, inspiring countless others along the way.