AUBURN — When Kristen Miale accepted the job 10 weeks ago of leading the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, the Auburn-based charity was entering its busy period.

It’s a $2 million season.

Sixty percent of the agency’s personal and corporate donations for the year come in during the final three months of the year. It’s also the costliest time of the year, when food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens across Maine feel the severest demands.

“I looked up and realized, ‘We’re about to enter the busiest time of the year,'” said Miale, who began work in late September. “Talk about getting thrown to the wolves.”

So far, the petite, fast-talking leader is thriving.

Donations appear to be up significantly, by about 15 percent, over last year. Miale survived a big change in the food bank’s Thanksgiving policy, supplying the fixings rather than the turkey to agencies on Thanksgiving day. And she’s learning the operation that helps hundreds of small and large charities across the state.

“I’ve loved it,” she said. “I’ve absolutely loved it.”

But more work is coming.

Since she took over, she has ignited a top-to-bottom analysis of the food bank, looking at how it can advocate for hungry people, create new programs and better supply member agencies with the food they need.

About half of the food bank’s full- and part-time staff (the equivalent of 48 full-time workers) have joined committees for her analysis, which is due in March.

One of their biggest goals is finding a way to cut agencies’ costs when they come to the food bank. On average, they pay about 14 cents per pound for the food they get.

“Our goal is to get that down,” she said.

Costs vary widely. Nonperishable foods are passed on for pennies a pound. All fruits and vegetables — which totaled about 900,000 pounds last year — are passed on at no charge. Food that Good Shepherd must buy costs agencies about 50 cents per pound.

Miale said she hopes the analysis will help find a way to force costs lower.

Meanwhile, she is learning more about the food bank and its operation. It’s a busy start for the 41-year-old former business planner and nutrition advocate.

In 2010 she quit her business job with the Black Point Group in Scarborough to begin Cooking Matters for Maine, a chapter of the national Share Our Strength program.

She taught folks how to make healthy meals, which often cost less. Using the Share Our Strength’s curriculum, she started with eight classes and 80 families. This year, the Maine organization is expected to reach more than 1,000 low-income families in 14 counties.

Through Cooking Matters, she began working with the food bank, which led to her current role.

She said she has not tried to make huge changes in her first weeks, particularly since the staff is already busy trying to keep up with demand. People from food pantries and soup kitchens tell her demand is up at least 60 percent over last year.

“Luckily, it’s not new to the staff,” she said, “so I started kind of falling in line.”

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