Matthew R. Vallante, a student at Coventry High School’s Regional Career and Technical School, examines a window frame he has assembled for the playhouse/lighthouse, below, that he and several other technical students are building. The structure will be raffled off at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet on Nov. 1 to benefit the Tomorrow Fund.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

COVENTRY For some time, Daniel Carignan Jr., a third-grader at Western Coventry School, has been intent on helping the Tomorrow Fund, a Providence-based charity that helps children with cancer. And more recently, the 8-year-old has become fascinated by lighthouses.

The bottom line: Thanks to students at Coventry High School’s Regional Career and Technical School, and the generosity of several businesses, a 12-foot-tall clapboard playhouse — in the shape of a lighthouse capped by an eight-sided cupola — will be raffled off at the Tomorrow Fund’s biggest annual fundraiser, the Fantasy Ball, scheduled for Nov. 1 at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, in Cranston.

The Tomorrow Fund, based at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, in Providence, was founded in 1985. It is a major supporter of the Tomorrow Fund Clinic, which opened there in 1994 and bears its name because of its substantial contributions.

“I don’t like seeing kids being sick. Makes me sad,” said Daniel, son of Daniel Sr. and Michele Carignan.

He started thinking about what he could do after seeing a commercial for the Tomorrow Fund about three years ago.

The boy consulted his parents and, in April of last year, he and his mother made the rounds of area businesses seeking donations in advance of the Tomorrow Fund’s spring fundraiser, a stroll at the Garden City Shopping Center, in Cranston. They attended the fundraiser, bringing with them a paper chain formed with paper cutouts in the shape of children — and about $1,200 in collected donations, Michele Carignan recalled.

Early last year, his mother said, they got the idea for a fundraising family fun day at Coventry High School. She approached students at the school’s career center about building a playhouse. They did so, and the 4-foot-tall, 8-foot-square building was raffled off at the event in April. The raffle and other incentives raised $4,000 for the Tomorrow Fund.

Why stop there? “The Tomorrow Fund loved it and wanted another one for the ball. And my son said ‘We can do that,’” Michele Carignan said.

A visit to a friend of his grandfather fixed a lighthouse project in Daniel’s sights.

“We went over to his house and he had tons of lighthouses, and I thought, why not a lighthouse,” Daniel said.

“They were little ones, made of little pieces of brick, some of them were white and some of them were red. I’m excited. I think we are going to raise a lot of money for the kids with cancer. I think they are going to feel better.”

About six weeks ago, eight students at the career center started work on the lighthouse.

Last week, the sounds of hammers and power saws filled a woodshop classroom as students diligently worked to finish in time for the fundraiser at Rhodes.

Their teacher, Scott Leavitt, said they received about $3,500 in donated materials from local companies and that the Providence law firm Smith & Brinks contributed money.

Along with Leavitt, two of the students, seniors Jake R. Martin, 17, and Matthew R. Vallante, 17, oversaw the project.

“We are the ones that would stay after school,” Matthew said.

“We spent about 20 hours. We would stay until five or so. There is still a lot of detail work to be done.”

Jake said the hardest part was staying on schedule.

“We have a lot of workers. We are all working hard. It was hard because we are still learning,” Martin said. “It’s kind of complicated. It’s different than a shed or something. It has a little bit of everything from a [real] house.”

One of the more challenging details is the eight-sided cupola.

“I’m kind of excited to build the cupola,” Jake said. “I haven’t gotten to build anything that technical yet. It has a lot of angles. It’s a small structure with more precise cuts. There is going to be a small eight-sided roof.”

This one, the Carignans hope, will raise $8,000 for the Tomorrow Fund.

lsparks@projo.com