World Cup fever has certainly hit the Houston area – and now employees of Grundfos Americas are helping to bring the joy of World Cup soccer to neuro-divergent athletes around the world, through a $100,000 grant to the Genuine Cup organization.

Grundfos’ “Team Bigheart” – its “social giving” committee – made the grant presentation to Genuine Cup founder Ignacio Torres and his company director Bjorn Thomson, in a special ceremony at the Grundfos campus at 902 Koomey Road in Brookshire on July 21.

The Genuine Cup, founded in 2024 by Houston businessman and philanthropist Torras, is a global soccer tournament celebrating inclusion for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. Organized by the Genuine Foundation, the event is designed to provide athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and autism a platform to compete, connect, and be recognized on a global stage. The Genuine Cup is hosted at Rice University in Houston, with matches held on campus fields and finals at Rice Stadium from July 27 through August 1 this year. The event, which brings together over 1,000 athletes comprising 54 teams from 50 countries, includes volunteer opportunities, refereeing, and fan engagement. Grundfos employees will be volunteering at the event this year, a company spokesperson said.

Grundfos, a leading global manufacturer of pumps and residential, commercial and industrial water solutions, has its U.S. headquarters in Brookshire. The company’s a very active “social giving” group has stepped up to make a difference for causes around the globe but also in Brookshire.

The team chose the Genuine Cup as their next grant recipient after learning about the event from Goya Foods Public Relations Manager Mayte Weitzman. “Every single year, we are finding out more about the neuro-divergent community,” said Grundfos employee Jordan Meyer. The current project really brings people together in a time of need, she said.

The committee began work on the grant process in February. “It has been amazing to watch this unfold,” said Ansell Sims, Grundfos Country President USA. Every 90 days, the Grundfos Foundation in Denmark reviews grant applications from all over the world and chooses which ones to fund.

Next, the committee plans to launch a turkey drive to support the local community. “We have a very big food desert in this community,” Meyer said. There are also plans for a toy drive in December.

But one of the biggest initiatives is Grundfos’ annual “Walk for Water” in October, through which the company raises funds for people around the world who do not have access to clean water. Over 400 million people around the world don’t have access to safe water, Sims told the attendees at the July 21 event. All of the Grundfos offices around the world will participate, Meyer said, with all employees coming out to walk more than three miles, to replicate the task of carrying water miles from its source to a remote village.

Grundfos has previously presented a $58,000 check to Royal ISD in Brookshire, and local Grundfos employees regularly volunteer at The Hangar in Brookshire.