09/13/2026
Hello Facebook friends and family...
My name is Aleena McKay. Please allow me to introduce myself...
I am a certified professional cook, entrepenure, owner and operator of Copper Drip catering which has now evolved into Copper Drip Culinary Creations.
Food has been part of my story for as long as I can remember.
I started working when I was just 14 years old, and from a young age I knew that the culinary world was where I belonged.
Some of my earliest and most meaningful lessons in food didn't come from a professional kitchen.
They came from working alongside the matriarchs in our feast hall, learning the importance of our feast system, community, hospitality, hard work, and the responsibility that comes with preparing food for others.
I was taught that food is medicine & LOVE. It can heal and bring joy to people.
Those teachings became the foundation I carried with me into my professional culinary career.
Before I went on to receive my Professional Cook certification from Vancouver Community College, I paid my dues in kitchens across Canada.
Working my way up from a dishwasher to prep cook to line cook and eventually found myself in suoervisory and managment roles as well.
My career has taken me from fine dining establishments and five-star resorts to remote oil and gas camps, institutional healthcare kitchens, the olympics and BC Ferries.
I've cooked intimate meals for a handful of guests and worked in high-volume operations serving as many as 1,500 people.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, I worked out of a 40-foot food trailer and supervised a team of eight—an experience that taught me a whole new level of organization, leadership and high-volume food service.
I later worked in healthcare dietary services as a Supervising Cook 1, where food wasn't about creating something delicious. It was about nutrition, consistency, dietary requirements, safety and caring for people's conditions through what we put on their plates.
Eventually, I followed the entrepreneurial road and opened my own catering business, Northwest Caterers, which later evolved into Copper Drip Catering.
I was on the verge of opening a food truck called The big Sugar Shack....
Then life changed.
After a serious car accident in 2017, I was no longer able to continue working the way I once had. In 2021, COVID brought another major setback. I was in the hospital for 9 months and given a 20 percent chance at survival.
My lungs are still slowly healing, I require supplemental oxygen, and my mobility is extremely limited. I am currently awaiting hip surgery and rely on a mobility scooter, walker and cane to get around.
So sadly realizing my limitations I had so say good bye to my food truck dreams.
For somebody who has worked since she was 14, being home and physically unable to do what I once could has been one of the hardest adjustments of my life.
But here's what I realized:
My body may have limitations, but my passion doesn't.
I can still cook.
I can still create.
I can still bring people together through food.
And I can still make somebody's day a little better with something delicious.
As a single mother raising two children and living on a limited disability income, these small food sales and bake sales are also helping me support my family. I'm not looking to simply survive anymore.
I'm working toward thriving again—one dish, one bake sale and one customer at a time.
That is the heart behind Copper Drip Culinary Creations.
This isn't someone who woke up one morning and decided to sell food.
Behind every plate are decades of professional experience, cultural teachings, long shifts, busy kitchens, burns,scars, laughs, lessons, thousands of meals and a genuine love for the culinary arts.
I've worked my way through many corners of this industry—from feast halls to fine dining, five-star resorts to oil fields, ferries to healthcare, catering to the Olympics.
Now I'm bringing all of those experiences home.
Expect comfort food, beautiful baking, creative specials, old favourites with my own twist, and sometimes something completely unexpected—because after all these years in a kitchen, I still love playing with food.
Copper Drip Culinary Creations is my way of continuing to do what I've always loved:
Making people happy through food. ❤️
Thank you for supporting a local chef, a small business, and a mother rebuilding her future.
Aleena McKay
Professional Cook • Owner & Creator
Copper Drip Culinary Creations
