AUBURN – The Good Shepherd Food-Bank is providing food to more than 500 nonprofit agencies in every county. More than 70,000 people a month are fed through the food bank and the shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries.

The need for food to feed struggling Maine families is on the rise and the costs involved in transporting food to the far reaches of the state have escalated.

In order to effectively fulfill the mission to feed Maine’s hungry, the Good Shepherd Food-Bank has hired a new director of development, Michelle Gosselin of Lewiston.

She comes from the Sisters of Charity Health System where she worked for six years as the coordinator of annual giving and special events. During her years there, Gosselin excelled in customer service, community relations and development.

She is married to Jeffrey Gosselin of BankNorth and is the mother of two young boys. Born and raised in Oakland, she is a graduate of Thomas College. Gosselin became Maine’s sole recipient of the Planned Giving Group of New England Scholarship.

In her new role at the food bank, she will be responsible to oversee all aspects of the food-bank’s development program, including direct mail, special events, grants, major gifts and corporate giving. Additionally, she will establish a new planned giving program.

The food bank will host “The Gathering,” a harvest celebration, from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18. It will be a time of food, music and fun. There will be a silent auction and raffle. Those attending the open house celebration will meet Gosselin and the new executive director, B. Charles P. Large.