If there’s actually such a thing as karma, as Buddhists, Hindus, and others believe, then David and Ambrosia Vertesi surely have good things coming their way. In 2011, the Vancouver couple—he’s a musician, she’s a vice-president at Hootsuite—started #SingItFwd, a charitable initiative that raises funds for Saint James Music Academy.

To date, the Vertesis have raised $125,000 for the Downtown Eastside–based organization, which provides music lessons and after-school care for disadvantaged children. Proceeds raised by #SingItFwd have gone toward instruments, meals, lessons, and social-support programs at the school.

The Vertesis believe that music changes lives, a sentiment reflected by a statement of purpose posted on the Saint James Music Academy site, which reads: “We support the emotional and intellectual needs of our students with positive social dynamics, as early in their life as possible. Music is the means. They learn a host of skills that will build the resiliency and strength needed to overcome socio-economic and other barriers. Through music they begin to see their way to a better future.”

In a telephone interview with the Georgia Straight, David Vertesi notes that #SingItFwd’s mission is also concerned with the future of the arts and culture on a societal level, and that this, naturally, starts with instilling a sense of their importance in youngsters.

“I think for me the cause is unifying people around the arts and music, and trying to find a place where we all agree,” Vertesi says. “I think there’s a lot of discussion in the media about the arts and funding and its place and importance in our society, and all of it really stems back to art education for kids. The best thing for the arts is to build a generation of people who have experience with it and appreciate it, whether that’s as participants in the industry or as audience members or whatever.”

He employs a sports analogy, saying, “A kid who grows up playing hockey is more likely to play hockey or watch hockey or read about hockey. Frankly, they’re even more likely to go to a football game as an adult, just because they took part in organized sports. Right now we have a ton of great musicians and artists coming out of Canada, but not necessarily the audience that we want with it.”

Without the support of that audience, artists will have to turn to funding bodies—be they governmental ones or industry-based ones like the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records—in order to carry on working.

“I’m really appreciative of grants, and I think it’s great, the support we get from the government and institutions like FACTOR, but I think that the idea here needs to be to build a culture that doesn’t need to be sustained like that—you know, doesn’t need to be sustained with handouts for people,” says Vertesi. “Because all you end up having is people who are like, ‘I want to make this, so hopefully I can get someone to give me money for it’—you know, the government or whoever—and if they don’t, then the art just doesn’t get made.”

Vertesi has hard-earned knowledge of what it’s like navigating the Canadian music industry as an independent artist. He’s a member of Hey Ocean!, the indie-pop trio he founded with Ashleigh Ball and David Beckingham. Highlights of Hey Ocean!’s decade-long run have included playing at the 2010 Winter Olympics, signing a distribution deal with Universal Music in 2011, and receiving a Juno nomination in the breakthrough-group-of-the-year category in 2013.

His status as a member of a high-profile act notwithstanding, he didn’t have major expectations when he and Ambrosia conceived of #SingItFwd as a one-shot fundraising concert in 2011. When the Vogue Theatre offered to donate both venue and staff to the cause, however, the ball started rolling. #SingItFwd was able to attract an impressive array of talent, with its first-ever lineup including the likes of Said the Whale, Aidan Knight, Rococode, Vince Vaccaro, the Belle Game, the Zolas, the Boom Booms, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, and Adaline. (Saint James students also perform on-stage alongside the artists.)

“We had, like, 13 or 14 artists the first year, because I thought people would say no—you know, you invite more people to the party than you think are going to come,” Vertesi notes. “And everyone said yes. Now, five years later, we have 30 artists, more than half of whom are Juno-nominated or award-winning. It’s such a pleasure to create that space for the artists, for the audience, and for the kids.”

With past #SingItFwd bills including such high-calibre talent as the Sheepdogs, Yukon Blonde, k-os, Dear Rouge, July Talk, Mother Mother, Shad, Hannah Georgas, Kathryn Calder, We Are the City, and, of course, Hey Ocean!, the bar has been set pretty high for the next edition. That’s slated to take place, once again at the Vogue, on January 14 and 15. The performers for each night, however, will remain a mystery until the day of the show, but Vertesi promises “the best lineup we’ve ever put together”.

It is also the last one. The 2016 edition of #SingItFwd is being billed as the event’s grand finale. Vertesi says it will not be the end of his and Ambrosia’s philanthropic efforts. Of the annual concert, though, he says, “It was never meant to be more than one year, so the fact that it’s been five is absolutely amazing. I think #SingItFwd will continue on in its own way, and we’ll still be doing stuff for the school, and for the arts and music education. It’s been five amazing years, and we’re ready to leave the space for other people to do their thing, which we’re already seeing a ton of.”

Indeed, he says he has seen a number of other charitable initiatives spring up in #SingItFwd’s wake, with their initiators giving the Vertesis much credit for setting a powerful example that, when they work together, individuals truly can make a difference. That, perhaps, is the best karmic reward of all.

“It’s a testament to the fact that people really want to do something good and want to feel a sense of purpose,” Vertesi says, “and to have an impact on their own community.”

#SingItFwd takes place at the Vogue Theatre on January 14 and 15. Visit Singitfwd website for details.