New York (CNN) -- When Gina Keatley first moved to New York to attend culinary school, she noticed that many of her neighbors were missing limbs. "I lived on 99th Street across from some projects," she said. "I would walk to the train and think, 'Why are there so many amputees?'" Keatley found out that many of them had to have amputations because of complications from diabetes. Diabetes can reduce blood flow to extremities and cause nerve damage, and sometimes amputations are necessary if serious infection sets in and there is severe damage to the tissue and bone. The neighborhood where Keatley lived, East Harlem, has the highest diabetes rate in Manhattan, according to city health officials. It also has the highest obesity rate: One-third of adult residents are obese or overweight.
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Gina Keatley's nonprofit is giving fresh food to people in poor New York neighborhoods
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The group also educates people about how to eat healthy on a low budget
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Keatley is hoping to eliminate the correlation between poverty and obesity
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Since then, the 8-year-old and his family have been frequenting their local farmers' market in @placeholder and transforming the way they eat.