Paul Furlong and his family use the profits from their aquarium business to fund an extraordinary charity helping some of the poorest people in the world.
Paul, his wife Julie and sons Caleb and Benjamin operate Lots of Fins Aquarium in Narre Warren.
Profits help support the family’s charity, Revive the Kids.
Paul travels to the poorest countries around the world and rescues slave families, orphaned children and desolate villages from desperate situations.
He started his charity work about six and a half years ago and since then has built 23 orphanages that help with kids’ training and education.
He has also freed over 400 slaves and helped to re-home and educate about 250 orphans in countries such as Africa, Nepal, Pakistan, Burma, India, and the Philippines.
Paul started Revive the Kids in a reaction to other charities that he saw as ineffective and bloated by administration and operational costs that stopped money from going where it was most needed.
“If I see a desperate need, my heart just melts and I can’t leave without doing something,” he said.
“I work with someone I trust and I set up a freehold for families of slaves, help in businesses, build orphanages or schools, I’ve had a few sewing centers and training centers.
“I take kids of the streets and give them training and something to live for.”
The aim of Revive the Kids is to teach orphaned or abandoned children as well as destitute families the skills they need to survive and to improve their communities.
“It doesn’t help to just give out money like some other charities do, it just makes things worse by creating a greedy handout culture which is really sad,” he said.
“Revive the Kids aims to change the culture and make people self-supportive.”
To find out more about Revive the Kids, visit http://www.revivethekids.com.au/
