‘All In For Beth’ rally Nov. 2 marks 92nd consecutive week of protests at Cline office

ROANOKE — An “All In For Beth” rally will be held Nov. 2 in downtown Roanoke in support of Beth Macy, the Democratic candidate for the 6th Congressional District.  The event, from noon to 1 p.m. at the corner of Franklin Road and Jefferson Street, will mark the 92nd consecutive Monday rally held in front of  incumbent Rep. Ben Cline’s Roanoke office.

These weekly rain-or-shine protests started in early 2025 when the congressman refused invitations to meet with constituents and hold public town halls. The rallies were initiated by Roanoke Social Circle and later additionally supported by DoGood Virginia, both community-oriented grassroots groups not formally affiliated with a political party. (At Cline’s Harrisonburg office, protestors marked their 86th Thursday protest Oct. 29.)

Richard Gooding of Roanoke Social Circle said the Monday rallies have brought together people from all walks. “Everybody has met all sorts of people,” he said, adding the gatherings have been consistent despite weather challenges. “We once had snow piled up so high we had to shovel our way to the corner.”

Dina Imbriani, head organizer of DoGood Virginia, said she is proud the rallies morphed into a mutual aid initiative. Rally-goers have been encouraged to bring diapers and food for needy organizations. Imbriani estimates these donations have topped $35,000 in food and $5,000 in diapers. She also has organized post-rally “teach-ins” at the nearby Roanoke Main Library, where various nonprofit organizations are invited to describe their mission and encourage volunteer involvement. “We are turning concern into action, and building a stronger community,” Imbriani said.

The main beneficiary of  food support is the Rev. Amy Hodge’s Mount Zion AME Church in Northwest Roanoke. The church pantry supplies hygiene, health checks and food to community members made needier by Cline and Trump’s cut to SNAP and USDA benefits. One in three children in Roanoke City go hungry at some point during the week since the cuts took place, according to Feeding Southwest Virginia, resulting in the elimination of 1.1 million meals in the past year in the Feeding Southwest Virginia catchment area alone.

Macy started attending the rallies in spring 2025 and quickly became energized by what she heard and saw. “Like so many people, I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing while Trump and Musk tore through the country, ignoring our laws, hurting our neighbors and alienating longtime allies around the world.”

At one of the rallies — which featured a “spineless Cline” dummy — Macy was encouraged to run for Congress herself. “I thought about it, and thought about it, and realized I had to stand up to what was happening. We have to stand up to this injustice and put a stop to what we all know is deeply wrong and out of whack with this country.”

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Beth Macy has long stood with outsiders and underdogs. She grew up poor in a small Ohio town, became the first in her family to go to college, and built her adult life in Roanoke, Va., where she and her husband, Tom, raised their two children. For 25 years at The Roanoke Times, Beth covered the stories of people and communities across western Virginia — listening without judgment and digging for the truth, even when the truth was hard to hear.

Beth has spent her career highlighting how the system has devolved to benefit billionaires over working families. She has listened to, grieved with, and advocated alongside parents who lost children to addiction, workers whose jobs disappeared, and communities forced to fight for basic services like child care, health care, and mental health treatment.

She has watched Virginia families work harder than ever while falling further behind, as the people in power have become more beholden to corporations and the ultra-wealthy than to the communities that elected them. In this unprecedented time of democratic backslide, Beth is running for Congress to protect the rule of law, to expand access to health care and education— and to ensure that every American can build a better future for themselves and their families.

Learn more about Beth Macy at www.BethMacyforCongress.com.

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