Charlie Silva from "This Old House" builds successful Pan-Mass Challenge fundraising strategy
WESTFORD - The home on Main Street in Westford is beautiful. A historic property, it burned years ago and has been uninhabited since. The town of Westford bought it and then sold it to a couple who has hired a crew to fix it up. It is a home that audiences will get to know-inside and out--in an upcoming season of Roku's "This Old House."
On a hot day in July, the place is buzzing with activity. It is a huge job for workers to restore the home to it to its new modern grandeur. Heading up the job is Silva Brothers contractor Charlie Silva. Television audiences have taken advice from Charlie on "This Old House" for the past eight years. In Greater Boston and beyond, Charlie hires subcontractors who restore, repair and reimagine beautiful, sturdy living spaces. He chooses them carefully and knows many of them well.
No shame in soliciting donations
What they have come to know over the years is that working for Charlie requires extra "skin in the game" when Charlie rides the Pan-Mass Challenge. Typically, he rides every other year. Charlie isn't shy about soliciting donations. "I have no shame because it's for a great cause," he says matter-of-factly. He also doesn't have trouble telling someone who can donate a healthy sum that they should. "I have zero problem telling people-you haven't given me enough money... I also tell everybody this-just to let you know, when you donate, I get an e-mail from the PMC that you did donate and how much. So, I will know when you do."
His approach yields results.
Silva has raised more than $300,000 for Team Wilson Farm
Charlie wasn't a cyclist when his friend Scott Wilson told him that he was putting a PMC team together in memory of his father. Scott founded Team Wilson Farm and began recruiting friends. Charlie signed up and, in just eight rides over the past 16 years, he has raised more than $300,000, almost a third of the team's overall goal.
Charlie and the team rode the PMC last year. Typically, this would be a year he would sit out. But 2024 isn't typical. This is the year that the PMC surpasses a billion dollars in total fundraising. There is a special "One in a Billion" campaign, a commemorative jersey, and special celebrations. Charlie didn't want to miss out. He recruited his daughter Michelle to ride her second PMC. (Michelle has a farmstand where she sells eggs and other items to supplement her fundraising.) They are planning to do the two-day ride from Sturbridge to Provincetown.
Subcontractor makes big donation
It also means that Charlie's "subs" are getting tapped again for fundraising. Tim Berky is a framing contractor with bragging rights. In 2023, he was the "sub" who made the most generous donation to Charlie's ride. As a result, he received the Bruins tickets Charlie gives his highest donor. Charlie likes to create friendly competition to "sweeten the pot" and as a thank you.
Tim wasn't about to lose out on those tickets. But that wasn't his biggest motivation for giving. "I'm a parent who lost a child. And I don't want to ever see anyone lose a child or go through the pain that we-as a family have gone through," he said.
When he saw that Charlie was close to his goal, he made a $15,000 donation to his ride. "Charlie explained ... how this affects so many people's lives and gives them hope," Tim said. "Gives them a way to see a future." Tim, who is also working on the Westford house, says he will do everything in his power to donate as much as he can every year.
That is the spirit of generosity Charlie saw even before he completed his first ride. At the time, he was working on a job for a homeowner in Lexington who rode the PMC. Charlie had not yet bought a bike. The homeowner had one he wasn't using in his basement. Charlie offered to buy it. The homeowner told Charlie that he would sell it for $1,000, which seemed a fair price. Charlie bought the bike only to discover, 10 minutes later, that the homeowner had made a $1,000 donation to Charlie's inaugural PMC. Now a seasoned rider himself, Charlie is grateful to be healthy and able to ride. "I'm able to do it. So why wouldn't you do it and raise a bunch of money?" Charlie said.
He says that every year there is an experience that reminds him of the life-changing and life-saving power of the PMC. "I still remember the woman on the side of the road the second day," Charlie said. "She's sitting by herself in Truro-sitting on a chair with a sign in front of her that says simply: I AM ALIVE BECAUSE OF YOU. And if that doesn't do something to you inside, nothing will."