Ex-Commissioner raises money for Yellowknife Association for Community Living
George Tuccaro donates gifts from around the world to online auction
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
George Tuccaro says he had no reservations about donating many of the gifts he received from various visiting dignitaries during his six years as NWT commissioner.
Former NWT commissioner George Tuccaro stands in front of some of the gifts he received from visiting dignitaries during his six years in office. They are currently on display on the lower level of the Centre Square Mall. Tuccaro donated many of the mementos to the Yellowknife Association for Community Living to auction online as a fundraiser for the organization. - John McFadden/NNSL photo
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Knowing the funds raised for the Yellowknife Association for Community Living by auctioning off the mementos online has made an personal attachments he had with the items relatively easy to break, he said.
"I looked at them all and I know that they all have special meaning," Tuccaro said. "I thought if I started to have second thoughts that maybe I wouldn't do this. I tried to maintain an attitude of giving."
Tuccaro said whether he hangs on to the gifts or not, the memories that came with them will stay forever.
"They all have special memories of special meetings with special people who come from special parts of the world," Tuccaro said. "I met up with ambassadors, consul-generals and we've always have good conversations. At the end there was always a little parting gift exchange. I'd give them things like a birch-bark basket from the North and we in turn would get something."
Tuccaro said among the items being auctioned are masks from the far east and dolls from Indonesia. He said he thinks this may be the only opportunity to acquire such fine art without travelling to the country where they were made.
Tuccaro said he has received dozens of gifts over the years and he simply did not have room for them at his home. Many of them had been displayed at his office but he moved them out when his term as commissioner expired on May 10.
"At the end of six years, you don't realize how many gifts you've received until you start packing them away," Tuccaro said. "I always thought very highly of the Yellowknife Association of Community Living. The people in the association are not just from Yellowknife but are from across the territory. I didn't want to be seen as donating something only to Yellowknife."
According to its website, the Yellowknife Association for Community Living is a non-profit organization that supports families, children, youth and adults with intellectual and other disabilities so they are able to contribute to community life in Yellowknife. Inclusion activities are part of all its programming and the focus of the association, the website states.
Association spokesperson Daron Letts said it was Tuccaro himself who came up with the idea of auctioning off the gifts.
"He's been downsizing. He has donated them to the association because he respects the work the association does," Letts said. "The gifts range from two-foot-tall Indonesian rod puppets, which are fascinating. They can dance just like a person. There (are also) Japanese high-end ceramics and they are remarkable."
Letts said the association is honoured the former commissioner chose it as the beneficiary of the online auction.
"He is a very kind man and he has shown his kindness to the community throughout his various careers," Letts said.
He added they hope to raise $3,500 though the auction and they made it to just over a quarter of the way to that goal through the bids made as of the end of last week.
Letts said there will be an event on Saturday to mark the final day of bidding.
The association's board will be hosting a tea from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. There will be some computer stations set up and people can bid on the spot or they can use their mobile devices to bid," Letts said. "There will be a selection of music from around the world as well."
The tea will be held at the Abe Miller Building on 53 Street. Bidding closes at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. To view the inventory of gifts or to make on online bid, visit the Yellowknife Association for Community Living website.
