Since it was first sounded in February, an appeal sent out by Starship Foundation urging New Zealanders to donate their old mobile handsets has managed to raise a whopping $500,000 for the organization.

Highly thrilled CEO of the Starship Foundation, Andrew Young has been quick to thank the thousands of people who have sent in their phones and made the raising of these huge funds possible.

The foundations Mobile Phone Appeal is being run in association with Folamh, an Irish recycling firm, and the money raised will be invested in fulfilling many of the hospital's needs like purchasing of lifesaving equipment and towards important pediatric research. Moreover, unwanted mobile phones would end up getting dumped in a landfill, thereby polluting the environment.

All the phones are being refurbished. They are recorded, graded and stored before being shipped out to destinations including Hong Kong, China or Eastern Europe, where they are then checked, reprogrammed, repackaged and sold once again. All the financial risks involved are taken on by Folamh.

"I should add that there is no end date to the Mobile Phone Appeal so if people keep sending us their old mobile phones, I'm confident we'll hit the $1 million mark before too long", said Mr. Young.

People requiring further information on sending in used mobile phones can contact the foundation at starship. org. nz/phone or 0800 STARSHIP.