Leo Cabrera smiles and banters with customers as he slides plates of hash browns, sunny-side up eggs and crisp rashers of bacon onto tables at his restaurant in Lansford one recent morning.

The low-key familiarity – he knows most of the customers by name – is one of the aspects of life in a small town that Cabrera cherishes.

It was the kind of atmosphere he sought when he, his wife Margarita and their children chose Lansford as their home.

"I was looking for a good area to raise the kids. Lansford reminds me of the small town where I was born: Everybody knows each other, and helps each other. It's a community; people stay together," he said.

Cabrera, now 49, was born in a small town in Mexico. At 19, he arrived in the United States in search of a better life. In 1984, he became a citizen. In 1999, he moved his family to Lansford from Woodbridge, New Jersey, and opened the restaurant in 2004.

Cabrera is among the growing numbers of Hispanic/Latino people who are choosing the Panther Valley as their home.

The population of the Panther Valley – Lansford, Summit Hill, Nesquehoning and Coaldale – is shifting from a largely Eastern European base to increasing numbers of Hispanics and other minorities, according to U.S. Census figures. The Hispanic/Latino population has increased by 156.8 percent over the past decade, the figures show. The Black/African American population has grown by 160 percent, and those of another single race (not white, black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American) have increased by 235.1 percent.

The changes are having a subtle ripple effect on the towns, and a greater combined impact on the Panther Valley School District, which serves all four towns.

The demographic change is most evident in Lansford, where officials vow to challenge the U.S. Census population count. The tally placed the borough below 4,000 residents, making it ineligible for Community Development Block Grants.

According to 2010 U.S. Census figures, the borough population dropped from 4,153 in 2000 to 3,941 in 2010. The tally rankled borough officials, who vow to take their own count to make things right.

Borough council president Rose Mary Cannon has seen the community endure changes, for better and worse.

"The changing demographics of Lansford, in my opinion, was a slowly developing trend which then took off with the speed of a race horse. Once a community of white, blue color, hard-working, church going residents who took pride in their modest homes, Lansford has become a borough of mixed ethnicity, with frequent transient residents among the lifelong retirees and young families," she said. "Many properties are now owned by absentee landlords who do not have pride in ownership and it shows on these properties."

The towns of the Panther Valley were created as coal mines thrived. That began to change by the 1960s.

"The once prosperous borough of the 1940s and early 1950s has been replaced by a town with many vacant store fronts, empty church building and decaying factory buildings," Cannon said. "The population has had a steady decline, with the latest census indicating a population of less than 4,000. This is being challenged by the borough. Also indicative of the decline of the town was the rise in more serious crimes. However, a diligent police force has been able to reverse that trend."

But the changes have also brought good news.

"In a more positive light, recently the real estate market has improved," Cannon said. "Properties are being improved; civic organizations are making strides in marketing the downtown and favorable commercial properties. Other groups organize events to bring the residents together, there is a beautiful recreation area. Also, civic and religious groups are reaching out to the disadvantaged during these hard economic times.

"While there have been many detrimental impacts on the borough over the last several decades, in my opinion, it is still a place safer than most, a place where neighbors still help neighbors and where good education can be found."

Panther Valley school Superintendent Rose Mary Porembo is doing her best to ensure that last point. But, sadly, many of the families moving into the borough are struggling.

The numbers of students relying on free or reduced price lunches, an indicator of the borough's poverty level, has been climbing. Currently, 66.16 percent of elementary, 70.66 percent of middle school and 54.82 percent of high school students in the district qualify for the price cuts.

"With this level of poverty, it is imperative that the administration and teachers understand the culture of poverty," Porembo said. "The district has been offering professional development on this subject in conjunction with the Lehigh Carbon Community College and its after school program.

"When you deal with educating students of poverty, one must understand that their view on life is diminished as to what worldly experiences they have had and to what extent their household is rich in print. The fact is that children of poverty have a detriment in the acquisition of language, as they are less likely to have the vocabulary of a middle class student," Porembo said.

"There is a study that indicates the vocabulary of a 5-year-old is a good indicator of the level of education the child will obtain. This makes the job of the school to focus more on normal language acquisition, as compared to the higher level thinking skills that need to be addressed earlier," she said.

"Students of poverty are capable of competing with their middle and upper middle class peers, but their language development and skills are lagging. This directly influences the way a school needs to provide instruction to remediate and enrich in all the same time frame," Porembo said.

As Porembo figures how best to give needy children an educational boost, Lansford is learning that its newfound diversity is paying off in terms of thriving businesses.

Besides Cabrera's successful restaurant, Egyptian-born Hany Askandar last year opened the Lansford Family Restaurant.

Askandar is a member of another newcomer to the Panther Valley: The St. John the Beloved Orthodox Coptic Church, housed in the former English Congregational Church at 47 W. Ridge St., Lansford. Askandar in April said he plans to move his family from their New Jersey home to the borough.

Church member Adel Mikhaeil has said that worshippers will come to the church from the Poconos, New York and New Jersey.