Three local women honored for turning cancer journeys into community healing

The AdventHealth Palm Coast Foundation has named Carla Cline, Nancy Katz-Arceo and Muffy Runnells its 2025 Humanitarians of the Year.

Each honoree is connected to cancer as a survivor, supporter or advocate, turning personal experiences with cancer into efforts that strengthen health and hope in the community. Their work reflects AdventHealth’s mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ and to help people feel whole in body, mind and spirit.

“Through their generosity and strength, these women remind us that healing isn’t limited to hospitals,” said John Subers, executive director of the AdventHealth Palm Coast Foundation. “Their impact ripples through families, neighborhoods and lives. They’ve inspired all of us to care more deeply for one another.”

Carla Cline: strengthening community through kindness and courage

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carla Cline found a creative way to unite her neighbors in gratitude for frontline caregivers. The idea soon grew into a countywide show of appreciation that also helped small businesses.

Her connection to the community deepened when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. She received 16 rounds of chemotherapy and later a double mastectomy at AdventHealth Palm Coast, completing treatment in early 2024.

“I feel very lucky that the care was close to home was good,” she said. “I went to the hospital almost four days a week. Driving an hour and a half each time would have made this so much harder — I cannot imagine it.”

A lifelong Flagler County resident, Cline continues to support programs that bring neighbors together, from youth initiatives to local health efforts.

Nancy Katz-Arceo: leading with grace and gratitude

Nancy Katz-Arceo has faced cancer seven times since age 14. Known throughout Palm Coast for her optimism, she comforts others in treatment through conversation, handwritten notes and simple acts of kindness.

“Every challenge has made me more grateful and more grounded in faith,” she said. “The most important thing we can do is be kind — to ourselves and to each other. Kindness makes the hard days lighter.”

She credits her care teams and community for helping her stay strong. “I’ve been blessed with great people, great health care and great facilities — and it’s all right here at home,” she said.

Muffy Runnells: turning loss into lifesaving research

After losing her husband, Christopher K. Glanz, to a rare form of bladder cancer, Muffy Runnells began supporting cancer care at AdventHealth Palm Coast by funding equipment and helping develop tumor board programs that improve treatment coordination.

She later established the Christopher K. Glanz Endowed Chair in Bladder Cancer Research at the AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando. The endowed chair supports the work of Dr. Guru Sonpavde, an international leader in bladder cancer clinical trials.

“Bladder cancer doesn’t get the same attention or funding as other cancers,” Runnells said. “I wanted to make sure that people facing this diagnosis — and their families — have more options than we did.”

Sonpavde said Runnells’s commitment has already helped accelerate progress in the field.

“Muffy’s generosity brought promising trials to our area that would otherwise not be available,” he said. “Her compassion is helping patients across Florida and beyond.”