Meet Our Team

Southern Resources Fundraising began in 1985 with a music teacher and a school bookkeeper who both realized the need for effective educational fundraising solutions. Years later, Southern Resources serves schools all over the Southeast. Under the leadership of owner and CEO Lance Lever, our team works diligently to provide professional fundraising services with a personal touch. And that school bookkeeper? She is still a valued part of the team. Our team members are featured below.

Executive Team of Southern Resources Fundraising

  • C.E.O.

    Lance Lever serves as owner and C.E.O. of Southern Resources Fundraising. Lance looks forward to serving schools and organizations in innovative ways, while maintaining the tradition of quality that Bill and Gayle Belcher established.

    Lance came to his previous role as a sales and accounts manager at Southern Resources with over 15 years of sales and managerial experience. Lance is a graduate of Tift County High School, Reinhardt College and Valdosta State University. Lance has a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies. He has worked within the Georgia Show Choir arena for over 10 years where he has served in various capacities. He serves on the the praise team and works with the youth at his church. He has served in various civic organizations within his community. Lance is a native of Tifton, Georgia and has worked throughout the southeast in previous sales and management roles.

    He resides in Tifton, Georgia with his wife Amy, who has been in education for 26 years. They have two adult children, Lauren and Aaron.

  • CO-FOUNDER/CHIEF OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS

    Gayle Belcher is the co-founder and Chief of Finance for Southern Resources. She handles all of the day to day operations of the company. These duties include customer service, ordering of brochures, printing parent letters, ordering prizes, data entry, invoicing, paying bills, commissions and overseeing support and sales staff.

    Having worked as a school bookkeeper, Gayle is a great source of knowledge for the schools that we serve. Providing excellent customer service and keeping our customers informed is paramount when it comes to having a successful fundraising program.

Advisory Board of Southern Resources Fundraising

  • Jim Lever

    STRATEGIC PLANNING/SALES AND FINANCIAL CONSULTANT

    Jim Lever is a life-long resident of Tifton and South Georgia. He is a graduate of Tift County High, Abraham Baldwin College, and the University of Georgia. Jim has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and holds a Chartered Life Underwriter designation from The American College in Bryn Mayr, Pa. He served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps and was honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant.

    After retiring from Merrill Lynch, where he served as a private client investment advisor, he pursued his long time passion for archaeology and joined Hebrew University’s Tel Rehov Expeditions as a multi-year volunteer. Jim also accepted the position of director of sales and recruiting for a Georgia based educational software firm, Edutrax, Inc. Jim is proud to be associated with Bill and Gayle Belcher and Southern Resources.

  • Brittany Barr

    MEMBER OF ADVISORY BOARD

    Brittany Barr, 36, grew up helping in her family’s fundraising business. Her parents, Raymond and Jody Barr, both former educators started United Service Associates in 1985 in Athens, TN. They saw the need to have a successful, customer-oriented fundraiser while providing the highest quality of products and services to generate the largest profits for their groups! For over 30 years they have delivered these results for their customers. Brittany graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 2008. After college she worked briefly for a printing company before returning to work in her family’s fundraising business. She has worked in every aspect of the job from data entry and pulling orders, to designing student letters and packets, as well as developing prize programs, sales, product development, brochure design, inventory procurement and management, customer service, accounting shipping, and even helped develop the e-commerce website pleasehelpmyschool.com. In 2012 she became sole owner of the business and has continued in her parents’ footsteps providing top notch customer service. Brittany understands the ups and downs of the fundraising industry and has successfully helped schools and groups raise the money they need while providing superior customer service and a wide range of quality products.

  • Gary Arnold

    MEMBER OF ADVISORY BOARD

    Gary Arnold began his fundraising career in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with the company #1 Fundraising. He went on to establish Mississippi Fundraising. He has served as a broker in the fundraising industry for 38 years, and he has introduced numerous manufacturers to the industry. Mr. Arnold has also provided sales training for fundraising companies throughout the United States and Canada.

In Memory: Bill Belcher

Bill Belcher was the Co-Founder of Southern Resources. He was a native of Eufalla, Alabama and lived in Tifton, Georgia for over 40 years. Bill was a graduate of Eufalla High School and Troy State University, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Music Education. After graduation, Bill taught band at Union Springs High School in Union Springs, Alabama. He went on to teach band throughout Alabama and Georgia for more than 20 years. He won numerous band competitions all over the Southeast and performed halftime shows at the Orange and Sugar Bowls. His bands also marched in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade.

In 1970 Bill began his tenure as band director for the Tift County Blue Devil Brigade. In 1980, Bill left teaching and began his career in school fundraising as an Account Manager. In 1985 Bill and his wife Gayle founded Southern Resources, which has been in the School Fundraising business for over 35 years. Bill’s years of experience in teaching gave him valuable insight into what makes the most money for schools, bands, and choirs.

Bill passed away in 2022, but his vision, knowledge, and example still inform everything that Southern Resources does for our customers and the students they serve.