HOFFMAN’S OLYMPIC MOMENT: Former Battlefield High star to run 400 hurdles. SPORTS, PAGES 8, 10
July 18, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 29 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $2.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
‘This is where I belong’
things better for his own children. After the 2020 census, Prince William County was ranked the 10th most diverse county in the nation — largely because of its immigrant residents and their children. About one in four residents of the county were born outside the country, with the largest group, about 26,000, hailing from El Salvador like the Panamenos. To Panameno, Prince William County is simply home, and he doesn’t think he will ever leave, “because it made me who I am,” he said. “And it’s the diversity in Prince William County that has taught me to love everyone,” he said. “Like it doesn’t matter that you’re Black, you’re white, Muslim, you’re Chinese. My community is full of every walk of life, and I want my kids to grow up in that type of environment.”
Immigrants help make Prince William County the 10th most diverse in the U.S. By Jill Palermo Managing Editor
Like many of Prince William County Hispanic residents, Alfredo Panameno’s parents came to the U.S. from El Salvador in the 1980s during their country’s civil war. When he got here, he found a thriving El Salvadoran community. The family landed in “Chirilagua,” near the border of Alexandria and Arlington counties. The area acquired the nickname after a small city in the coastal El Salvador department of San Miguel, from which many immigrated in the 1980s. Growing up, Alfredo Panameno said he sometimes felt the sting of racism in comments about his family. His parents did not speak English. Now, however, he said Prince William County’s rising diversity has made
The ‘perfect cocktail’ for diversity
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/FLORENCE SHEN
Alfredo and Jessica Panameno live in the Ashland neighborhood in Prince William County and launched Amor, a funeral service that caters to Latino residents.
About 25% — or more than 123,000 — of the county’s residents were born outside of the U.S., according to the most recent U.S. Census data. That’s about twice the percentage of foreign-born residents in Virginia as a whole. Prince William County is home to people from about 140 countries. Just more than half of all the county’s immigrants come from Central and South America. About 15% were See DIVERSITY, page 2
Most Prince William schools to offer students free meals By Meghan Mangrum
The Community Eligibility Provision, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program, allows schools and districts that meet certain criteria to offer free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students without requiring household applications. The federal government recently reduced the percentage of students who qualify for free meals needed for a school to offer meals to all students at no cost from 40% to 25%, according to a news release.
Deputy Editor
More students in Prince William County will have access to free school meals this year, thanks to an expansion of a federal program. Students at 68 schools across the division will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch regardless of income this school year. SUBMITTED
Most Prince William County students will receive free school meals under the expansion of the federal school lunch program. 88 DULLES, VA
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Studio Luxe in the City opens in Manassas, page 4 News
163rd anniversary of 1st Battle of Manassas, page 6 Scan below to check out The JAM