"If Obama can do it, so can I."

That's what Burundian refugee Jeneseri Bazuwaremye said after the 14-year-old learned last year that he had been elected president of his class at Olympus Junior High School.

His inspiring attitude, and that of parents Bashire Nigarura and Sarafina Ndagijimana, won the family Catholic Community Service's Unsung Hero Award on Tuesday.

The nonprofit service organization presented the award and four other humanitarian honors during its annual fundraising dinner at Little America Hotel.

The Burundian family of nine spent nearly a dozen years in a Tanzanian refugee camp before resettling in Utah two years ago with the help of CCS, said Kathryn Brussard, the organization's marketing and development director.

"This family, in spite of seeing many horrific things, are the most optimistic, grateful group of people you ever met," she said.

Other honorees included:

Wells Fargo Bank » Its involvement with CCS goes beyond regular donations, Brussard said. "They really respond whenever we have a program in trouble." The bank also is active in the broader nonprofit community.

United Way of Northern Utah » Brussard said United Way is a "terrific community partner" in the Ogden area, where CCS with United Way's help runs northern Utah's largest food bank as well as a major homeless prevention program.

LDS Church apostle Russell Ballard » "He is someone who reaches out not just to the Catholic Church but to Catholic relief services worldwide," Brussard said. "He is a true ambassador and a loving partner in terms of the help he gives through the LDS Church."

Monsignor Terence Moore » The pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper, Moore is a "beloved priest in Utah," who is being recognized for starting refugee resettlement in Utah in the 1970s with new arrivals from Vietnam, she said. Moore is a former CCS director.